French trade unions accused the government of trying to hoodwink workers into accepting changes to their prized 35-hour week, vowing to fight the plan even as parliament prepared to debate it on Tuesday. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's conservatives say rules governing the working week must be relaxed to help cut unemployment, currently close to 10 percent, and make the world's fifth largest economy more competitive.
But unions say the bill will sound the death knell of the 35-hour week and force workers to put in extra hours without extra pay.
"To make us believe that workers will be able to work more to earn more is a lie," Francois Chereque from the CFDT trade union told BFM radio, calling on workers to take to the street to fight for their shorter week.
Four of France's five major unions have called for protests on Saturday. Deputies from the Socialist opposition have said they will also come out and help defend the 35-hour week, which was introduced in 1998 under a Socialist-led government.
A recent poll showed some 77 percent of workers surveyed wanted to keep their working week at the current level. Only 18 percent wanted to work longer hours.
Raffarin is wary of large public protests after voters punished his government for unpopular economic cutbacks in regional and European Parliament elections last year.
Although no elections are due before 2007, the cash-strapped government is concerned French voters could express their anger about reforms when they vote in a referendum on the European Union constitution before the summer.
Raffarin and President Jacques Chirac have urged voters to approve the treaty on its merits and not allow themselves to be side-tracked by domestic political issues.
Raffarin needs to find a balance between the demands of disgruntled employers - many of whom who say the 35-hour week makes France less competitive - and unions who say the shorter working week is a prize worth fighting for.
The proposed reform would allow workers to put in more than 35 hours a week in return for more pay if they reach a collective accord with their management. They could work up to 48 hours a week, the maximum allowed under EU regulations.
Unions argue that many firms' parlous financial situation will prevent them from letting employees work overtime for more money and that company bosses could force staff against their will to work extra hours without extra pay.