Friday February 6, 03:08 PM
Unions up the pressure over Sarkozy crisis plans
By Emma Charlton
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PARIS (AFP) - Union bosses vowed Friday to keep up the pressure on President Nicolas Sarkozy, after he promised action to help France's working poor through the economic crisis in the wake of mass street protests.
Fifteen million people tuned in Thursday night to watch Sarkozy defend his strategy for tackling what he called "the crisis of the century," in a 90-minute interview given to answer mounting criticism of his stimulus plans.
Sarkozy's left-wing critics accuse him of shovelling billions into banks and industry with a 26-billion-euro (33-billion-dollar) state investment drive, while ignoring direct help for consumers.
Facing a threat of further strikes and unrest, Sarkozy insisted he stood by his strategy of investing in business, announcing plans to scrap eight billion euros in annual local business taxes in 2010.
The French leader ruled out demands for a lower sales tax and a hike in the minimum wage, but he agreed to open talks with unions on February 18 on ways to boost low incomes.
Sarkozy promised that an estimated 1.4 billion euros in interest generated by state loans for fragile banks would be ploughed back into social spending.
And he said the governnent would consider cutting income tax for the poorest households, while pushing for a deal on profit-sharing in companies.
But the head of France's biggest union, the CGT, Bernard Thibault, was unimpressed, summing up Sarkozy's hard announcements so far as "eight-billion to nil," for big business versus the workers.
The head of the MEDEF employers' federation, Laurence Parisot, hit back at union criticism, saying the business tax cuts would help prevent site closures and keep jobs in France.
But Thibault told Europe 1 radio that workers should do "everything in their power" to "show that they demand concrete measures with immediate effect" ahead of the February 18 talks.
"It is clear we need to remain mobilised," he said.
The head of the moderate CFDT union, Francois Chereque, said the president had "opened the way for dialogue" and that unions would wait for the outcome of next month's talks before calling any new strike action.
But he told RMC radio he was "disappointed" by the lack of hard measures, saying "we will have to keep up the pressure, to obtain advances for workers."
Socialist opposition leader Martine Aubry said Sarkozy had failed to answer French voters' concerns.
"He is fobbing us off with talks and negotiations -- but he has no problem ramming decisions through when he wants to cut taxes for the super rich, or to make people work on Sundays," she charged.
Sarkozy also managed to annoy a key ally, by criticising a controversial cut in sales tax put in place by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
He dismissed suggestions he could follow Britain's lead, saying the measure had "made absolutely no difference" to consumption.
And he added that London's City financial district "is linked up to the United States.... but frankly when you see the situation in the United States and the United Kingdom, we don't want to look like them."
Downing Street sought to downplay the outburst, but failed to disguise clear irritation.
Brown's spokesman told reporters the French presidency "have been in contact this morning to assure us that these remarks were not meant as a critique of UK economic policy -- which is nice."
He stressed the comments were made during "a domestic debate on television about the way forward for the French economy and French proposals for an economic stimulus."
"I think it is important to keep seeing it in that context," he said.
Most French newspapers, which gave blanket coverage to the interview, judged however that the president had made an overture to the unions.
"Sarkozy reaches out to the unions," headlined the pro-government Le Figaro, the popular Le Parisien daily spoke of a "social U-turn," while the left-wing Liberation noted he "clearly made some concessions" to union demands.
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