Macron Vows Millionaire Minister Will Cut Worker Protection
- Government says labor market plan unchanged by pay controversy
- Executives and investors look to Macron to deliver on promises
The Meteoric Rise of France's New President
This article is for subscribers only.
Emmanuel Macron never claimed it would be easy to strip back protection for French workers -- the last three presidents have failed. But he may be making it harder than he needed to.
If you wanted a poster child for the capitalist logic that so riles the old French left, then Macron’s labor minister, Muriel Penicaud, is not a bad candidate. As a human resources director at Danone in the 1990s, Penicaud made 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million) from stock options while cutting 900 jobs, according to a French newspaper. That’s on top of 4.8 million euros in cash remuneration over three years.