Macron and unions come head to head in economic policy struggle

A nationwide strike by public workers this week will put more pressure on France's leader Emmanuel Macron, who is currently struggling to shake off criticism that he is “president of the rich”.

Strike notices have been lodged in schools, hospitals, airports and government ministries. Tuesday’s protest over plans to axe 120,000 jobs and reduce sick leave compensation will be the first time in a decade that all nine unions representing 5.4 million public workers have united behind a protest call.

The walkout comes as Macron, 39, looks to reverse damaging headlines after a week in which he scrapped a wealth tax and was recorded making unsympathetic remarks about workers at a struggling factory. Opponents reacted by branding him out of touch with ordinary voters.

“It should be a massive mobilization of workers,” Mylene Jacquot, a senior official from France’s largest trade union, the moderate CFDT, told reporters.

Macron says France’s economy needs re-shaping to lure investment and rein in spending, as he strives to persuade Berlin that Paris can be a credible partner with whom to drive European reform.

Public sector workers say they are bearing the brunt of the government’s effort to tame its fiscal deficit.

Macron defied tens of thousands of protesters -- far fewer compared with demonstrations of the past -- last month to drive through labor reforms that simplify employment rules and give companies more power to set working conditions.

Civil servants, retired people and students are not giving up as they look anxiously towards a proposed overhaul of the employment insurance and pension systems.