美国轮胎企业的一位籍籍无名的高管在一封书信中对法国工人的生产效率表示质疑，引发的强烈反应已经迅速地从笑料转化成了难题。相对于在全国展开讨论来分析高管观点的可取之处，盲目的民族主义压倒了理性思考，使它演变为一个国际性事件。

    尽管Titan公司（TWI）外号“灰熊”（the Grizz）的首席执行官毛里斯•泰勒在致法国官员的信中使用了明显带有煽动性的措辞，然而这些措辞也包含了一个令人不快且让人难以面对的真相，的确，法国制造业基地及其整体经济的竞争力已经退化到了危险的边缘。如果法国仍然希望回归强势经济，那么国家有必要迅速推出强硬的劳工改革措施。

    上周四，法国报纸义愤填膺地抨击了这位胆敢诋毁“伟大法兰西共和国”经济声誉的“丑陋美国人”。法国工业部长阿诺德•蒙特伯格称，泰勒的信“荒唐不堪”，而且它也显示了写信人对法国经济的“一无所知”。泰勒在信中用彩色油笔向法国官员标注了他为什么不愿重回谈判桌商谈收购一家法国北部问题轮胎工厂的原因。

    固特异（Goodyear）轮胎工厂是泰勒此信中的主角，该工厂工会代表迈克•沃曼表示，此人“不应在跨国公司任职，而应该被关进疯人院。”即将上任的法国总工会（CGT）负责人西里•雷帕昂表示：“光有部长回应是不够的，法国总统也必须出面为自己的国民要求尊重。”

    泰勒在他的信中写道，他不至于傻到按照蒙特伯格的要求重回谈判桌去收购固特异亚眠工厂，因为他认为这些接受总工会领导的工厂工人既固执、又不肯努力工作。他还说，如果法国不能彻底变革劳工市场，那么法国就有丢掉其工业基地的风险。他写道，法国最大的轮胎制造商、国家明星公司之一的米其林（Michelin）可能会在5年之内因不利的劳工环境而将所有生产线搬出法国。

    The explosive reaction in France to a letter penned by a little-known U.S. tire executive, which questioned the productivity of French workers, has quickly gone from comical to troubling. Instead of opening a discussion in the country as to the possible merits of the executive's views, blind nationalism overtook rational thought, creating an international incident.

    While the words used by Titan (TWI) chief executive Maurice "the Grizz" Taylor in his letter to a French official were clearly inflammatory, they contained an uncomfortable and inconvenient truth that France's manufacturing base, indeed, its economy as a whole, has become dangerously uncompetitive. The country needs to quickly make some tough labor reforms if it ever intends on getting back on solid economic ground.

    Newspapers in France had a field day on Thursday bashing the "ugly American" who dared insult the economic integrity of "the great French Republic." France's industry minister, Arnaud Montebourg, said that Taylor's letter, in which he colorfully spells out to French officials why he would not return to the negotiating table to acquire a troubled tire plant in northern France, as "ridiculous," and that it displayed a "perfect ignorance" of the French economy.

    Mickael Wamen, the trade union representative of the Goodyear (GT) tire plant at the center of Taylor's missive, said that he "belongs more in an insane asylum than at the head of a multinational corporation." Thierry Lepaon, the incoming head of the CGT union for France noted, "It's not the response of a minister that is necessary, but of the president of the Republic, who must demand respect for the citizens of his country."

    In his letter, Taylor noted that he was not "stupid" enough to reenter negotiations to acquire the Goodyear plant in Amiens, as requested by Montebourg, because he believed that the plant's workforce, led by the CGT union, was intransigent and didn't work hard enough. He went on to say that France risked losing its industrial base if it fails to shake up its labor market. He noted that Michelin, the largest tire maker in France and one of its national champion companies, would probably move all of its production out of the country within five years due to the hostile labor environment.

    泰勒没有预测未来的能力，而且也并不知晓这家规模是自己东家20倍的企业未来的计划，然而他的话却自有一番道理——法国在生产效率方面的确存在问题，特别是它的制造业。羸弱的欧洲经济已经大幅降低了法国工业品的市场需求，而该国的企业却成为了工会向政府要求权力的傀儡。

    例如，法国最大的汽车生产商标致雪铁龙（Peugeot Citroën）本月初刚刚公布了有史以来最大的一次年度亏损。它2012年的亏损额达到了50亿欧元（约合67.4亿美元）。2012年欧洲和法国汽车销量较一年前分别下降了9%和14%。为了调整生产规模和满足市场需求，标致试图关闭一些工厂，同时裁掉一部分工人。但工会将这家公司告上了法庭，从而成功地阻止了它管理紧缩计划的实施。标致获批减产，但在得到法院“首肯”之前，公司不能裁掉任何一名员工。

    标致的故事在法国已是家常便饭。的确，作为泰勒闹剧主角轮胎工厂的所有者，固特异销售亚眠工厂的原因在于公司的高级轮胎在低迷的法国市场上并不受欢迎。泰勒曾研究过收购该工厂的事宜，但工会要求他至少在7年之内不能裁员。这一点让泰勒大吃一惊。

    他说：“Titan公司有钱，也有制造轮胎的能力。相反，疯狂的工会有什么？”

    这些“疯狂的”工会有法国法律撑腰。即便固特异决定关闭工厂，但它也有义务不让所有的员工失业。因此，在固特异削减了工厂90%的产能之后，公司仍必须全额支付工人所有的工资和福利。这可能也解释了为什么泰勒去年访问工厂时，这些工人每天只工作3小时。同时，这可能也解释了他们为什么有底气像老板一样跟泰勒讨价还价。

    的确，在工业化国家中，法国拥有最强有力的劳工保护法。在经济合作与发展组织（OECD）的就业保护指数（employment protection index）中，法国排名直逼榜首。这个指数主要衡量发达国家雇主雇佣、解聘员工的难易程度。法国的分数是美国的3倍多，而美国在这个指数的排名中垫底，原因是它拥有有利于企业的劳动法。法国同时还超过了其工业竞争对手德国，以及经济问题重重的希腊和意大利。

    就为劳工市场计划提供公共支持而言，法国同样也能击败大多数工业国家；这种支持指的是，政府在帮助培训或支持失业工人方面的投入。经合组织发布的最新数据显示，2010年，法国在劳工市场计划的开销惊人地占到了GDP的2.6%。以慷慨的社会安全网著称的德国在劳工计划领域的开销也只占GDP的2.3%，而美国仅仅只有0.9%。

    然而，员工的难聘用和难解雇只是法国劳工体制的缺陷之一。小型企业尤其深受35小时法定劳动时间的伤害。这个法令迫使雇主为每周工作超过35小时的员工支付超时工资。结果，法国人工作的时间要比经合组织任何成员国的员工都要少。经合组织和法国劳动部门公布的最新数据显示，事实上，法国雇员在2011年的平均工作时间只有1,476小时。相比之下，美国工人每年的工作时间达到了1,704小时，比法国同僚多出了21%。

    Taylor doesn't have a crystal ball, nor does he have knowledge of the future plans of a rival that is 20 times his company's size, but he does have a point -- France has a problem when it comes to productivity, especially in its manufacturing sector. The weak European economy has decreased demand for French industrial products in a big way and its companies are being held hostage to unions that command great power with the government.

    For example, Peugeot Citroën, France's largest carmaker, just reported its biggest yearly loss ever earlier this month, shredding some 5 billion euros ($6.74 billion) in 2012. Car sales in Europe and France in 2012 were down 9% and 14%, respectively, from the previous year. Peugeot tried to close plants and lay off workers to adjust production levels to meet market demand, but its unions successfully stalled the implementation of the management's austerity plan by taking the car company to court. Peugeot was allowed to cut production, but it was not allowed to lay off any of its workers until the court gave it "permission."

    Peugeot's story is far from unique. Indeed, Goodyear, the owner of the tire plant at the center of the Taylor drama, put the Amiens plant on the block because it was having a hard time selling its premium tires to the depressed French market. Taylor looked into buying the plant, but the union insisted that he guarantee all of the workers' jobs for at least seven years. Taylor was shocked.

    "Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires," he said. "What does the crazy union have?"

    The "crazy" unions had French law on their side. Even though Goodyear decided to close the plant it was obligated to keep all of its workers employed. So after it cut the plant's capacity by 90%, it still had to pay all of its workers their full salaries and benefits. That probably explains why they were only working three hours a day when Taylor visited the plant late last year. It is also probably explains why they felt they had the power to dictate terms to Taylor as if they were in the driver's seat.

    Indeed, France has one of the most protective labor laws in the industrialized world. It ranks near the top of the OECD's employment protection index, which measures how easy it is for employers in rich nations to hire and fire workers. France had a score that was more than three times higher than that of the U.S., which was at the very bottom of the list thanks to its business-friendly labor laws. France also outranked its industrial rival Germany, as well as economic basket cases Greece and Italy.

    France also beat out most industrial nations when it comes to public support for labor market programs; that is, how involved the government is in helping to train and support workers who are unemployed. It spent a whopping 2.6% of its GDP on labor market programs in 2010, accordingto the latest data available from the OECD. Germany, known for its generous social safety net, spent 2.3% of its GDP on labor programs, while the U.S. spent just 0.9%.

    But the difficulty in hiring and firing workers is just one defect of the French labor system. Small businesses are particularly hurt by the 35-hour law, which forces employers to pay their hourly workers overtime if they work more than 35 hours a week. As a result, the French work fewer hours than just about anybody in the OECD. In fact, the average French employee worked just 1,476 hours in 2011, according to the latest data available from the OECD and the French labor department. In contrast, workers in the U.S. rocked 1,704 hours per year, 21% more than their counterparts in France.

    但是，工作时间长并不一定就意味着美国人的生产效率比法国人高。其中计算生产效率的一种方法就是用国家的GDP除以公民当年的工作总时间。2011年，法国每小时工作所产生的GDP是57美元，美国是60美元。因此，尽管法国人看似工作时间较少，但是相比较而言，他们的生产效率似乎与美国工人旗鼓相当。然而，这个插曲并不能真正展现法国劳工市场所存在的重大问题。2001年-2011年，美国的劳动生产率（以每小时所产生的GDP来定义）增长速度是法国的两倍。这意味着美国将很有可能在未来几年中拉开与法国的差距，除非法国对劳动法进行大刀阔斧地改革。

    如果使用一个更为明确的生产效率衡量标准，那么法国将面临难堪的境地。这个标准便是单位劳动成本（ULC），尤其是制造业的单位劳动成本。单位劳动成本衡量的是单位产出的平均劳动成本。它的计算方法是用总劳动成本除以实际经济产出。从2005年至2011年第一季度，美国制造业的单位劳动成本没有什么变化，而法国增长了8%。它意味着，相比较美国工人，法国制造业工人的效率在降低——而且这个趋势并没有呈现任何减弱的迹象。

    很明显，就这一点而言，在法国做生意不仅会变得越来越困难，而且会变得越来越低效和越来越昂贵。法国新上任的社会党总统弗朗索瓦•奥朗德便在“救治”法国经济方面面临着巨大的压力，但是要实现这一个目标，他需要其党派的帮助。法国总理让-马克•艾罗曾在10月对《巴黎人报》（Le Parisien）透露，35小时每周的法定工作时长为小企业“带来了困难”。此语一出，他马上受到了社会党同僚的谴责。在其他社会党成员的抨击声中，他迅速地改变了措辞。

    虽然未能推翻35小时的周工作时长意味着机遇的丢失，但法国仍可以通过实施急需的劳动改革来挽救失调的经济，提升生产效率，而且这也会降低雇主聘用或解雇员工的难度。法国国会有一项法案可以让公司更为容易地关闭工厂，裁减员工。然而，鉴于社会党与工会的紧密关系，目前还不清楚社会党能在多大程度上支持这项法案。奥朗德和艾罗应齐心协力劝说工会，如果不进行改革，值得挽救的工作岗位可能将会不复存在。

    泰勒表示，这正是他试图通过信件所传达的内容。泰勒向《费加罗报》（Le Figaro）透露，他并不打算通过信函来侮辱法国或法国人民；他只是希望表达他对工会的不满。

    泰勒说，“我热爱法国。我喜欢法国女人。我并没有忘记拉法耶特曾拯救过我们。但是法国人有必要意识到：如若他们不改变习惯，他们的生活方式可能将就此不保。”

    译者：翔

    But working a lot more doesn't necessarily mean that Americans are more productive than their French counterparts. One way to gauge productivity is to take a nation's GDP and divide it by the total number of hours its citizens slaved away that year. In 2011, the GDP for each hour worked was $57 in France and $60 in the U.S. Therefore, it appears that while the French work less, they seem to be producing just as much as their U.S. counterparts, on a relative basis. But this snapshot doesn't really show the big problem with the French labor market. Labor productivity, as defined as GDP per hour worked, in the U.S. from 2001 to 2011 grew twice as fast as it did in France. That means the U.S. will most likely widen its lead over France in the years to come unless it makes some big changes to its labor laws.

    There is a more targeted productivity metric that paints a bad picture for France: unit labor costs (ULC), specifically the ULC of the manufacturing industry. ULC measures the average cost of labor per unit of output. It is calculated as the ratio of total labor costs relative to real economic output. From 2005 to the first quarter of 2011, the ULC in the U.S. manufacturing industry was flat, while it rose 8% in France. That means that French manufacturing workers have become less efficient relative to their American counterparts -- a trend which shows no sign of abating.

    It is pretty clear at this point that doing business in France is not only getting more difficult, it is also getting less efficient and more expensive. France's new Socialist President, Francois Hollande, is under extreme pressure to "fix" the French economy, but he will need help from his party to make it happen. Jean-Marc Ayrault, France's prime minister, came under fire from his fellow Socialists when he told Le Parisien newspaper in October that the 35-hour work week has "caused difficulties" for small businesses. He quickly recanted the statement as other Socialist party members blasted him.

    Failing to overhaul the 35-hour work week would be a missed opportunity, but France could still help its ailing economy and boost its productivity by passing much needed labor reform, which would give employers the ability to hire and fire workers more easily than they can today. There is a bill in the French parliament that would make it easier for companies to shutter plants and lay off workers during tough times. It is unclear how the Socialists will be able to support the bill given how close they are to the unions. Hollande and Ayrault should work together to convince the unions that without this reform then there may not be any jobs left worth saving.

    That is what Taylor said he was trying to convey in his letter. Speaking with Le Figaro newspaper, Taylor said it was not his intention to insult France or the French people with his letter; he simply wanted to express his frustration with the unions.

    "I love France. I like French women. I have not forgotten that LaFayette has saved us," Taylor said. "But the French need to understand: Their lifestyle will disappear if they do not change their habits."