Hollande Pledge to Block Firings Defied by Peugeot’s Reality
PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG)s plan to close a factory in France for the first time in two decades represents the biggest challenge to Socialist President Francois Hollandes promise to prevent a wave of job cuts.
For Hollande, who pledged during his campaign to block what he called an expected parade of firings, the cuts by Frances largest carmaker leave him squeezed between businesses seeking measures to spur growth and demands of his union supporters.
Peugeot, whose announcement yesterday brought its job cuts to 14,000, is hardly alone. Air France-KLM Group (AF) is eliminating more than 5,000 slots. Drugmaker Sanofi (SAN) may reduce staff by more than 2,000. Economists say more mass firings are likely as growth grinds to a halt.
Theres going to be an avalanche of job cuts and the expectations of public opinion are huge, said Jerome Fouquet, a director of pollster Ifop in Paris, who says that unemployment is the top concern among voters. This puts the government in a very difficult position.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-12/hollande-s-pledge-to-block-firings-defied-by-peugeot-s-reality.html