French President proposes companies pay a third of profits to employees 10/01/2008 00:00

Sarkozy proposed on Wednesday that a third of company profits should go to employees

   PARIS, January 9, 2008 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed on
Wednesday that a third of company profits should go to employees, with the
same amount reserved for shareholders and investment.
   "A system in which a third of the profits of a company would be for
shareholders, a third for employees and a third for investment is a system ...
that would have a certain coherence and logic," he told parliamentarians.
   "Those that think it is too much should say it's too much and above all
why," he added.
   Sarkozy, who oversees a centre-right government, was elected on promises to
reform French institutions and the economy and raise growth and living
standards.
   Public concern about buying power, already a hot subject during the
presidential campaign early last year, remains at the top of worries in
opinion polls.
   Sarkozy argued that his radical proposal would help boost purchasing power,
in addition to the longer working week that he intends to implement.
   "Saying that sharing profits has nothing to do with purchasing power, (or)
saying that a revolution as profound as the one I have proposed for sharing
earnings has nothing to do with purchasing power is to treat people like
fools," he said.
   "I have proposed on this question of purchasing power a real revolution on
(employee) participation and profit sharing," he said.
AFP