France debates longer work hours
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The French parliament is to debate a bill that would ease the 35-hour working week rules.
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French MPs back a controversial plan to relax the country's 35-hour working week.
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The European Commission unveiled proposals to reform EU laws on working hours, making them more flexible but cutting abuse notably by Britain of rules capping the working week at 48 hours.
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Representatives from German carmaker Volkswagen AG and a labor union said Friday they had agreed to increase working hours at plants in western Germany by more than four hours a week to 33 hours, without any increase in pay.
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France faced a second day of paralysing public transport strikes Friday as one smaller rail union decided to prolong its stoppage over planned pension reforms.
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France's centre-right cabinet on Wednesday discussed plans to reform ailing universities and curb some strike rights, a move that could put President Nicolas Sarkozy on a collision course with trade unions.
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PARIS, Oct 17 (IPS) - Five months after taking office as president,  Nicolas Sarkozy has run into a crisis over labour issues. Railway  workers and staff at electricity companies, among others, plan to  strike Oct. 18.
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France's extended vacations and 35-hour work week have long been the target of critics who say the labor laws hamper economic growth. Now they could be falling by the wayside.
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The French government pressured the country's second-largest trade union to resume talks with Swiss giant Nestle SA, backing a voluntary layoff plan that could avert a Perrier sell-off.
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French railway and energy workers kept up  the pressure on President Jacques Chirac's government on  Wednesday with strikes over working conditions that severely  reduced train traffic and curbed electricity output.
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French postal workers began a 24-hour strike on Tuesday, starting three days of industrial unrest which puts the spotlight on discontent with President Jacques Chirac's conservative government.
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The European Union head office this week proposed redefining how working hours are counted under the bloc&#39;s maximum 48-hour workweek law and stopping companies in Britain from abusing an &quot;opt-out&quot; to the law.
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Germany's state governments will this week ask parliament for the freedom to further extend shop-opening hours, long seen as one of the most visible symbols of the heavy regulation of the country's economy.
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German opposition and industry leaders are calling for a longer working week instead of the idea of scrapping public holidays to help boost the country's sluggish economy.
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France&#39;s center-right cabinet discussed  plans to reform ailing universities on Wednesday and to curb  some strike rights, a move that could put President Nicolas  Sarkozy on collision course with trade unions.
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Teachers in France stage a strike in protest at plans which would remove their right to teach for fewer hours.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to go further in easing France's maximum 35-hour working week.