Clashes in Paris Over Macron Reforms
ASHER: Hello, everyone, I'm Zain Asher. Coming up on the next half hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Donald Trump says he's not sure about new sanctions on North Korea. We'll be live in Pyongyang with CNN's Will Ripley, is the only Western journalists on the ground. And I'll ask one of BMW's board members if it's curtains for the combustion engine. Before that though, these are the top headlines that we are following for you at this hour. French President Emmanuelle Macron is now in the Caribbean where he's looking to ease concerns after hurricane Irma devastated the island. Mr. Macron is pledged to rebuild the French territories and says running water and electricity would be restored very soon. U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Fort Myers, Florida, Thursday to survey the damage caused by hurricane Irma. The deadly storm made landfall in Southwest Florida during the weekend. It left a trail of destruction across the entire state days after slamming a lot of Caribbean islands in its path. The UN says 370,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since August 25. That's when the Myanmar government began a harsh crackdown in response to attacks by Rohingya militants. Refugee camps in makeshift settlements near the Myanmar border are being overwhelmed. The UK is putting Rupert Murdoch's takeover of Sky TV on hold because of concerns about broadcasting standards at Fox News. The British Culture Secretary intends to order an extensive review of the $15 billion deal. Fox will have to pay Sky $265 million if the deal falls apart. And Disney has announced Hollywood director JJ Abrams is going to finish the "Star Wars" trilogy. He started later than expected. Episode nine was expected to come out May of 2019. Now it's been pushed back by about six months. Abrams first "Star Wars" film, "The Force Awakens" grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. With Emmanuel Macron in Saint Martin, as I speak, overseeing the response to hurricane Irma, there have been clashes back in Paris over his policies at home. The French President wants to loosen the country's labor laws. The proposal would give companies a little bit more flexibility in their hiring and firing of workers. Small companies with fewer than 50 employees would be able to bypass unions and pay negotiations. And severance packages would increase by 25 percent. Seen as a huge sweetener from the government. Let's bring in our Melissa Bell, who is live for us in Paris tonight. So, Melissa, this has been basically the first major test of Emmanuel Macron and clearly, despite the protests, despite how angry some people are, he's not backing down.</s>MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: No, he's not backing down, Zain. He knew very much that this was in the French President's DNA. This was what was behind his presidential run. This was the center of his message when he was economy minister here in France. There was no doubt that Emmanuelle Macron, having stood on a pledge of transforming France, was going to take on first and foremost these overly rigid labor laws. I mean, so many presidents have tried and failed to reform them before. Every single President I can think of since Francois Mitterrand, has tried and failed to go as far as he has attended to go. Emmanuel Macron had clearly signaled that he would be the one to do this. Today his real first, as you say, real test, and the question is really, how strongly those who oppose these measures feel. This was the first day that they were out in the streets. Now France's main union took part, but a couple of France's big other unions have chosen not to take part. And yet branches representatives of the unions were on the streets today and it seems that the unions didn't do too badly in getting people out there. There were skirmishes but they by no means took over what was largely a peaceful demonstration. And according to official figures -- and it was always going to be about the figures today -- 223,000 people took part in the country, throughout the country. That compares to 400,000 that the unions claim. But the official figures even 223,000, that is a pretty big number when you look at the last set of protests against the reform of these particular laws as well last year in 2016. There were 10 days of protests last spring. And you remember, they were very traumatic. The first big day of protests attracted 224,000 nationwide, according to official figures. So, as you see, the numbers on the streets today as big as the beginning of those protests last year. The question is will they have the stamina to see it through as they did last year. Ten days of protests that really led to Francoise Hollande rolling back on some of his controversial measures. The question is whether the opposition we know Emmanuelle Macron intends to stay the course, how strongly will the trade unions feel? And will they be able to get out similar numbers on the future days of protests. Already called for 21 September, and a big old march on 23 September led by one of the unlucky presidential candidates, the Far Left's, Melenchon. So, the question will be to see whether really what we saw today on the streets of France can last.</s>ASHER: All right, but what we saw today, I mean it's still a significant number. As you mentioned, over 200,000 people out there. How much division is there. Melissa, within the labor movement itself in terms of the people, who, let's say, might be willing to compromise. Might be willing to sort of say, Ok, enough is enough. Let's listen to what Macron has to say, versus people who are going to remain headstrong. What are your thoughts?</s>BELL: That's exactly the right question actually, Zain. As I said, a couple of France's biggest unions have chosen not to take part today. They had not happened last year at all. So, there is serious division within the trade union movement. There's two major trade unions have said that they will continue speaking to the government, which has played a very shrewd game this time of having consultations throughout the course of the summer. Emmanuel Macron is trying to bring in these charges by executive order. So, it was about his ability to convince the unions that through dialogue, through conversation, through that critical sweetener, that you mentioned a moment ago, they were all heading in the same direction. Equally, these measures have been welcomed by French business and French economist. So, Emmanuel Macron appears to have appeased enough of the trade union movement on one hand, to have appeal to those who were calling for change on the other and seems for the time being to be winning this argument. Which was, as you say, the first big test of his presidency and a serious challenge. I mean, no one has managed it before. He appears to be arriving at the right time with the right message and perhaps the right approach. As I say, the question of how those who will not be swayed will behave going forward. And of course, this is the first of the other crucial reforms that Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to see through. There are those who say, well wait a minute, the unions are simply waiting for the bigger fight that lies ahead. Things like reform to France's employment insurance. Things like reform to France's professional training, both of which will affect the unions in their very funding and, therefore existentially. So, these are some of the big battles to come. But as you say Emmanuelle Macron has made it clear that he intends to see this through -- Zain.</s>ASHER: Oh, yes, he's clearly not backing down. Melissa Bell, life for us there, thank you so much. Appreciate that. The pound has jumped to its strongest level against the dollar in years as prices rise faster in the U.K. The consumer price index rose 2.9 percent in August. That's the joint highest level in more than five years, and it's putting the Bank of England under pressure to raise rates. The Archbishop of Canterbury says Britain's economic model is broken and is creating neither prosperity or justice. Justin Welby's remarks are part of a report by the center-l microphone off me says center-left Institute of Public Policy Research. Tom Kibasi is director and joins us live now from London. Tom, just give us your take in terms of this report on how we can ensure that everybody in Britain, including the lower income folks, can partake in a much more prosperous future.</s>TOM KIBASI, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: Well, good evening, Zain. The story of our report is that beneath the headline figures, if you look at GDP growth and you look at unemployment, the economy isn't really performing as it should. Most people haven't had a pay raise in 10 years. An outside of London and the southeast, not a single region of the U.K. has seen a return to pre-crisis economic performance levels.</s>ASHER: So, what is the solution then?</s>KIBASI: Well the commission identifies that we don't have a British economic model. That we have an economic model. That means that we put aside some really fantastic strengths in our economy alongside really profound weaknesses. And that we need really fundamental reform to change the way the economy functions. So that fundamentally means finding ways to get wages to go up and make sure all regions of the country have a chance for a positive economic future.</s>ASHER: Should there be as much focus on education reforms as well as labor reforms then?</s>KIBASI: It's going to be a broad package of reforms. This is our interim report. The Archbishop leads a 24-person panel, the Commission on Economic Justice. The panel as a whole includes representatives from British business, from trade unions, from civil society, so across all different parts of our country. What we're working on is a package of reforms to really look at how to improve the way the labor market functions. How to make British business more successful. What does a really good industrial strategy look like. And then also, how to make sure the gains are more fairly shared. So, the labor share of income in our economy isn't now down to its lowest level since the second world war. This really is something that we've not really seen in decades now. And the case is unanswerable that we need fundamental economic reform.</s>ASHER: It is too early, though, Tom, to know what exactly the reforms -- what exactly reforms should be until after we really assess the impacts of a post-Brexit Britain?</s>KIBASI: It's a great question. And Brexit certainly makes things more complicated. But I would say this, part of the reason that the British public voted to leave the European Union was that they voted against the status quo that simply wasn't working for them. An economy that was deeply unfair. And they were given a chance to cast a vote and they said we are not putting up with this. We won't stomach this anymore and we want things to change. So, it was a very profound vote for change. The other thing that we find in our report is that the weakness in the British economy, investment that's far too low, productivity that's behind the G7 and really behind our main competitors. Real problems in our public finances and a really difficult position on international trade. What's really striking about these problems in the British economy is that actually they go back for decades. They're not new problems. These are long-standing problems. Brexit forces us to face the diagnosis, but these problems predated Brexit. And after Brexit, they'll still be there unless we are prepared to take them on and solve them. But Brexit will certainly make it difficult, more difficult to address some of the problems and certainly for the British political establishment and economic decision makers, it's a huge distraction.</s>ASHER: And Brexit will certainly put the resilience of the U.K. economy to the test. Tom Kibasi live for us, thank you so much for being with us.</s>KIBASI: Thank you very much.</s>ASHER: All right, we just have some pretty significant news just into CNN that I have to report. The Mayor of Seattle has just announced his resignation. Ed Murray says that allegations against him of sexual abuse of minors are not true. This announcement comes hours after new allegations surfaced. The mayor says he doesn't want his personal issues to affect the city's government abilities to function. The resignation is effective at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. After a week of negotiating and a unanimous vote in favor of new sanctions against North Korea, Donald Trump says he's not sure -- he's not exactly sure these sanctions will do much at all to stop Kim Jong-un. We're live in Pyongyang with our Will Ripley next.