Economics

Macron Leans on Crack Team to Face Down Unions in Reform Push

  • French president meeting unions Thursday on more reform plans
  • The risk of social unrest isn’t totally out of the picture

Emmanuel Macron, France's president, gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Salzburg, Austria, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.

Photographer: Lisi Niesner/Bloomberg
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French President Emmanuel Macron opens talks with unions Thursday, breaking only for lunch as he seeks to push through reforms of social systems, some of which date back to the end of World War II.

His secret weapon: a squad of five men who’ll take on the unions’ wrath.