Word: seilli
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Listening to Ernest-Antoine Seillière complain, you might assume the French left was still in power. Last week Seillière?president of France's main employers' organization?sternly warned the government to re-examine proposals that "serve neither economic growth nor employment." He also denounced the government's hesitancy to roll back job-protection measures and lift overtime limits linked to the 35-hour workweek. Seillière's criticism of France's nominally business-friendly government was remarkable, since he is not only the nation's leading lobbyist of market liberalization, but also...
...contradictions, policy pirouettes and public climb-downs that have punctuated its brief reign. Raffarin and his neo-Gaullist boss?President Jacques Chirac?benefit from near-complete conservative domination of the French political system, but you wouldn't know it from their policies. That has led traditional allies like Seillière and other business leaders to lament the lost opportunity?a chance to slash away at a social and economic structure they view as hobbled by an obese public sector, hefty taxes and costly entitlements. "We've had a change of political direction," says Seilli...
...Lionel Jospin, who seems likely to join the presidential race, has been pushing "social modernization" legislation that would make it more difficult for companies to lay off workers. Not surprisingly, big business has heatedly opposed the proposal. "If firing becomes impossible, hiring will become more difficult," says Ernest-Antoine Seillière, head of the French employers' association, MEDEF...
...stormy meeting last week, Rochet asked the two investor groups for yet another cash injection to fund the $400 million salvage plan. SAirGroup said it would do so only if Marine-Wendel shared the cost. But Seillière's team was unwavering: "It is out of the question that we pay one more franc." With no serious buyers in sight, Rochet seemed ready to throw in the towel and declare bankruptcy. Some analysts predicted that the threat of an imminent liquidation - which could cost the investors at least $800 million - might finally convince SAirGroup to finance the bailout alone...
...Coming in the wake of other high-profile layoffs in France - notably Marks and Spencer's pullout, eliminating 1,700 jobs, and Danone's shedding of 570 jobs - the AOM debacle casts an unflattering spotlight on Seillière at a critical moment. It cannot help weakening his sputtering efforts to reform the country's social schemes. And before the AOM saga is over, the baron may find that he has lost something far more valuable than a $40 million investment: his reputation as a phenomenally successful entrepreneur. Lady Luck can be a fickle partner indeed...