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Labour market reform

This category contains 65 posts

Are French workers paid too much?

France’s jobs market is too ‘rigid’ and must be reformed to boost growth and employment, Brussels and international agencies like the OECD* endlessly repeat, and hawkish PM Valls has been only too happy to oblige. But new evidence challenges this assertion, shows French economist Arnaud Parienty. The “structural reforms” that Brussels asks France mainly consist … Continue reading

France’s anti-austerity movement has life in it yet 

Union-led protests across France show the country’s anti austerity movement is alive and kicking, despite the betrayals of the Socialist  government and the rise of the Right, argues Jean Paul Piérot of L’Humanite newspaper.    In the aftermath of departmental elections, the people seemed depressed, cowed. The popular anti-austerity movement, which in recent months has made … Continue reading

Spain’s jobs crisis will endure as long as we are in the euro 

By Juan Torres López A crucial question for the Spanish economy is why we suffer a level of unemployment that is much higher than the rest of the economies that surround us.  Obviously, it is a question with no simple unequivocal answer, for surely there are many factors that make our unemployment so high and … Continue reading

France’s Loi Macron: the consecration of archaeo-liberalism

This week France’s government forced a controversial deregulatory economic bill through parliament by decree, provoking a confidence vote and further splits within the ruling socialists, with rebels including former minister Benoît Hamon. Drafted by a one-time investment banker and designed to win respite from the German-led EU over draconian deficit reduction demands, it has been pursued in the name of … Continue reading

Spain’s labour reform: three years on

By Vicente Clavero* Three years ago the Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy pushed through its labour reform against despite big opposition. Most of the parliamentary groups and social forces rejected it, to no avail; well founded warnings about possible consequences were ignored too. The absolute parliamentary majority of the Popular Party meant the law got … Continue reading

The honeymoon is over for Italy’s PM Renzi

Friday’s mass protests in Italy mark the end of the honeymoon period for PM Renzi Thousands took to the streets of Milan and other cities on Friday in the first of union-led protests that will culminate in a general strike next month. At issue is the government’s labour counter-reforms that will make it easier for … Continue reading

After Saturday’s massive show of force, where now for Italy’s CGIL union?

As many as a million took to the streets of Rome on Saturday in a protest at the Renzi’s government’s labour counter-reforms, dubbed the Jobs Act. Giorgio Cremaschi analyses the strategy of the country’s largest union confederation that led the mega rally and suggests what is needed to defeat this latest neo-liberal attack on the Italian people The CGIL … Continue reading

France’s ‘rigid’ labour market: Manuel Valls should get his facts right

The French Prime Minister has revived the idea that the French labour market is overly protective of permanent employees. However, international comparisons show that this is not the case, argues Duval Guillaume “The functioning of the labour market is not satisfactory because it is not creating enough jobs, it generates significant inequalities between highly protected employees … Continue reading

Spain’s labour reforms are still not working 

The Spanish economy, no sooner declared one of the bright spots in the Eurozone economy, is again struggling. The Eurozone’s fourth largest economy grew at its fastest pace in six years in the second quarter (the third consecutive quarter of growth) but this week the Bank of Spain sounded pessimistic, pointing to a slow down in … Continue reading

Does Italy really need another labour reform?

No sector in Italy has been more ‘reformed’ than the labour market. Yet there’s talk of the need for reforms every day, as if labour rules had remained unchanged for a century.  Carlo Clericetti on why PM Matteo Renzi should desist from his Jobs Act  It is repeated in almost every newscast: “structural reforms”, especially of the … Continue reading

Abandoned in austerity Spain: no job, no benefits

Read the news and it’s all upbeat about Spain. The Spanish economy grew  0.6 percent in the second quarter, the fastest rate since 2007, before the country slipped into recession. That’s the fourth consecutive quarter of growth. And Spain’s unemployment rate has fallen to a two-year low – of 24.5% in the second quarter. Of course at … Continue reading

The IMF and bosses’ war against Spanish youth

By Jose Antonio Arias Again, for the umpteenth time the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has attacked Spanish youth and their wages, while the Spanish business lobby shouts “we told you so”. This is the scenario: over 50% youth unemployment, the minimum wage at €645.30 (virtually frozen since 2011) and almost non-existent labour rights. Faced with … Continue reading

Italy: the problem with Renzi

By Giorgio Cremaschi* A few months ago all the Italian media reported with great sympathy the struggle of the Greek state television journalists against the cuts decided by the government in the name of austerity. Now they point the finger at the strike at Italy’s state broadcaster Rai, characterising it as a revolt of bureaucracy … Continue reading

Flexibility is bad for the liver

IN THE RADICAL PRESS / IL MANIFESTO By Francesca Fornario Job flexibility is like those diets that promise to make you lose weight quickly by eating only animal protein. The result, says the research , is that by swallowing steaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you will reach the goal of losing weight immediately, but … Continue reading

Rajoy’s labour reforms are leading to an historic revenge against workers

By Vicente Clavero Probably PM Mariano Rajoy doesn’t give a damn, but he’s just got a right earful from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The UN agency, which represents governments, unions and employers, has issued a scathing report on collective bargaining in Spain. According to ILO, reforms since February 2012 and cuts in working conditions … Continue reading

Twitter Updates

  • From Agriculture to Demonetisation: Not ‘Make in India’ but Made in Washington counterpunch.org/2017/01/05/fro… via @NatCounterPunch 14 hours ago
  • Democrats Denounced Sanders' Ideas as "Impossible," Now Many are Starting to Materialize counterpunch.org/2017/01/05/dem… via @NatCounterPunch 14 hours ago
  • RT @equalitytrust: Big inheritances received by the already-rich will increase the wealth gap even further, says @TheIFS #inequality https… 1 day ago
  • How the ECB’s ‘quantitative easing’ simply funds multinationals and climate change corporateeurope.org/economy-financ… 3 days ago
  • And now for something positively different in 2017: French Workers Have Legal ‘Right to Disconnect’ After Work Hours universityherald.com/articles/58127… 3 days ago
  • Low wage Portugal leads Europe in race-to-the-bottom beauty contest over US Tesla Gigafactory investment. Worth it? dw.com/en/portugal-dr… 2 weeks ago
  • Oh, on that communist campaign plan for Portugal Exit from Euro Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz agrees theportugalnews.com/news/economy-n… 2 weeks ago
  • Portugal's Communist Party to spend the first part of the coming year campaigning for Portugal’s exit from the euro… twitter.com/i/web/status/8… 2 weeks ago
  • How 2016 has been for Europe's filthy rich ("leading the world at wealth preservation") theguardian.com/business/2016/… forbes.com/sites/denizcam… 2 weeks ago
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