Economics
From Calais Lace Plant to Paris, French Unions Flex Muscles
- Unions prevent Sunday openings at flagship department stores
- Socialist President Hollande faces challenge within his party
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From the English Channel port of Calais to the presidential palace in Paris, French unions are flexing their muscles.
A 126-year-old lace factory in the northern port city, with customers including Victoria’s Secret and Gucci, risks closure after unions won a court ruling. In Paris, unions this week forced Socialist President Francois Hollande to back off from his latest attempt at labor reform, while the capital’s shopping giants Printemps and Galeries Lafayette are battling labor representatives to enforce a new law that allows stores to stay open on Sundays.