France gov’t, major union talks fail to reach breakthrough

Negotiations between France's government and a major labor union have failed to put an end to protests over labor reforms.

France's labor minister Myriam El Khomri said on Friday after an hour and a half meeting with Philippe Martinez, the leader of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union, which has been organizing protests across France, that the two sides "did not find consensus."

For his part, Martinez said, "There are points of disagreement between the CGT and the government on basic things."

"These disagreements were confirmed today."

The leader of the union stressed its demand for rewriting or withdrawing several key articles of the bill.

Meanwhile, the minister said the text bearing her name could be "enriched" but "without undermining its purpose."

Martinez also called for the suspension of the debate on the bill in the Senate, which began on Monday, in order to allow new talks to occur. The debate will wrap up on June 24, with senators are set to vote for it four days later.

The bill had bypassed the lower house in May as the government pushed it through without a vote, using a constitutional tool.

The lower house will have the final say if the two houses of parliament fail to approve the bill and Prime Minister Manuel Valls could again ram the legislation through.

The developments come after several hundred masked protesters on Tuesday in Paris hurled projectiles at police, who fired dozens of rounds of tear gas and used water cannons to disperse the crowd.

SS