France: Government discusses wage issue with unions in bid to contain protests

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu meets with unions and employers to discuss raising the minimum wage and improving purchasing power, in an attempt to contain growing protests over the cost of living, amid social and economic pressures ahead of the presidential election.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu meets Monday with unions and employers to discuss wages and purchasing power, seeking to contain escalating protests over the cost of living. This step comes after four weekends of protests involving tens of thousands across France. Lecornu is also scheduled to meet with representatives of high school and university students who continue to shut down some educational institutions. The crisis began with the start of the school year in September with a protest movement by high school students over the deterioration of public education, then joined by protests over the cost of living and others against President Emmanuel Macron, who will leave office in May after ten years in power. Ahead of the presidential election, in which far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is the frontrunner, Macron finds himself caught in a social crisis that radical left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon seeks to exploit. A new opinion poll published Monday confirmed the candidates' lead, showing all scenarios tested by Harris Interactive for M6 and RTL that Le Pen and Mélenchon would advance to the second round, with Le Pen receiving between 34% and 36% of voting intentions, compared to between 18% and 19% for Mélenchon.