Sun, 8 November 2009
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In our monthly French language column, intrepid Douglas Campbell scours the media and tracks down Le Grenelle, Saving Private Dati and Amy Winehouse. Le Grenelle de...
Leaping back into multiple daily use in the media with the general summit meeting of all parties concerned with the environment, "le Grenelle de l’environnement", was this initially baffling use of a place name. Rue de Grenelle is where the Ministry of Education is, and "rue de Grenelle" will often be used to avoid repetition of "Education Ministry", in the same way as "Matignon" and "L’Élysée" are used for "the Prime Minister’s Office" and "Presidential circles". "Ils doivent être reçus demain rue de Grenelle" means "they are to be received at the Ministry of Education tomorrow".
However, the use of "Grenelle", as a masculine noun, to refer to "an important conciliatory problem-solving summit meeting bringing together all interested parties in order to resolve conflict" goes back to "les accords de Grenelle", the agreements which were reached after the strikes, riots and near-revolution of May ’68. The summit meeting between the government, unions and employers took place in the "rue de Grenelle", in the Employment Ministry / Ministry of Labour building, and ended the strikes which were paralysing France. See Le Monde, 7 October 2007 : "Un Grenelle! C'est le symbole historique des ‘accords’ du même nom, qui auraient conclu, le 27 mai 1968 à l'hôtel du Châtelet, le ministère du travail, vingt-cinq heures de négociations non-stop entre le gouvernement, le patronat et les syndicats. 
A l'issue de ce marathon, destiné à mettre fin aux grandes grèves de Mai 68, une hausse du SMIG et des salaires, des réductions d'horaires et une reconnaissance de la section syndicale d'entreprise furent annoncées. La salle des négociations rue de Grenelle s'appelle encore aujourd'hui la ‘salle des accords’."
This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes how to write a CV, application procedure, interview dos and don'ts, Belgian management culture.
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