CLEVER MONKEY OF THE WEEK

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC

For cancelling a hotly protested new labor law just in time to preserve whatever electoral appeal his government might still have

Facing explosive opposition to France’s new labor law, which would have made it easier for an employer to fire a new hire, as well as to hire him in the first place, President Chirac cancelled it just in time to preserve whatever electoral appeal his government might still have.

Unfortunately, his courageous step left the very young Frenchmen who objected to the revision of the labor laws in as difficult a situation as they were before its attempted passage.

As you know, the rule proposed the daring step of allowing employers to fire recently hired workers within two years of being hired and without so much as an explanation. Although the condition was eventually reduced to one year, in an effort to make the rule more palatable, opposition still flared.

Now, clever Jacques can go home at night, at peace with the knowledge that he did what the better part of electoral valor and short-term domestic tranquility persuaded him to do.

Young Frenchmen, once hired, still never have to worry about being fired. Now, their only worry remain who can risk hiring them?

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