French President Macron meets union representatives after protests

French President Emmanuel Macron met union leaders and employers' groups on Monday before addressing the nation in the evening following increasingly violent and radicalized protests against his leadership. 

Leaders of employers' and workers' unions, both chambers of parliament and local elected officials have left after meeting with Macron to talk about the "yellow vests" crisis as the country awaits his first public statement since the latest wave of riots on Saturday.

'Deeply divided'

The president has drawn criticism for his silence in public over the violence in Paris with opponents accusing him of turning the Elysee Palace into a bunker. Ministers hope his address will placate the yellow vests, whose revolt poses the most formidable challenge to his 18-month administration to date.

"Our country is deeply divided, between those who see that globalisation has benefited them and others who can't make ends meet, who say ... globalisation is not an opportunity but a threat," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio.

"It is the president's role to unify the country."

The protests were born out of a backlash against the squeeze on the household budgets of hard-pressed middle class and blue-collar workers. But the movement has developed into a broader anti-Macron rebellion.

Mindful of France's deficit and not wanting to flout EU rules, Macron will have limited room to meet the yellow vests demands for a higher minimum wage, lower taxes, cheaper energy, and better retirement provisions.

The government's latest estimates are for a budget deficit of 2.8 percent in 2019, just below the EU's 3 percent cap - a target Macron has cast as critical to meet to cement his reformist credentials.

Le Maire reiterated his desire to accelerate tax cuts but suggested he was not in favour of reinstating a tax on wealth – known as the 'ISF' – that Macron narrowed when he came into office, and which earned him the tag "president of the rich".

"Does the ISF help reduce poverty, reduce our debts, reduce public spending? No. If you want to hunt for money, go knocking on the doors of digital tech companies," Le Maire said.

"It is time they paid a fair level of tax," he said.