France: Angry union activists pelted eggs on French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron on Monday as a strike against planned labor reforms disrupted rail services for a sixth straight day but appeared to be losing steam.
Macron was splattered on the head when he went to an event in a Paris suburb.
The reform-minded Macron who advocates economic reforms to loosen rigid labor market rules and promote flexibility and competition, has irked leftists, and angry union activists yelled at him to “get lost” and threw eggs at him.
The debate over the reforms has sparked many protests, some of which have turned violent.
Macron told reporters after the attack that.”It’s all par for the course but it won’t have any impact on my determination,” he said there was no economic future for those who resisted change.
The 38-year-old minister was seen on video in a heated argument with two members of the powerful CGT union, last month telling one of them “the best way to afford a suit is to work”.
“But I dream of working, Mr Macron,” one of them retorted.
This sparked an outrage on Monday. “Rather on strike than in a suit,” read a sign held up by the protesters.
In 2014 Macron was appointment with a firm agenda to reform the moribund French economy, saw Socialist President Francois Hollande accused of shifting to the right.
Hollande used executive power to push the measure through the National Assembly without a vote. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the government could consider some “modifications” to the labor law, but said the core of the legislation would not change.
This time around it is a set of labour reforms infuriating the country – which the government argues will boost employment, but unions fear will erode job security.