Between Marlène Schiappa and Muriel Pénicaud, the Minister of Labor, nothing is going right! Last episode to date: Thursday, February 6. The Secretary of State for Gender Equality almost choked when she discovered at lunchtime that the Ministry of Labor and that of Territorial Cohesion are organizing a meeting to reveal to the journalists an investigation into the discrimination in businesses. Marlène Schiappa whose portfolio includes the fight against discrimination was not invited…
Furious, she calls Matignon, who finally intervenes so that her teams are associated with this meeting with the press. “We played the referees. There is no room for locker room quarrels, ”confirms someone close to the Prime Minister.
The meeting of anti-discrimination associations organized the same day by the State Secretariat gave rise to new bickering. “Muriel Pénicaud was a long-time guest at this meeting. After multiple reminders, the only response from his office was: no, ”swears the entourage of Marlene Schiappa. A version denied by the Ministry of Labor, which ensures that Muriel Pénicaud never refused to attend the said meeting, his presence was not required. While specifying never having had the will to dismiss Marlène Schiappa from the presentation of the results of the survey on discrimination in companies. “There was a communication bug,” says a ministerial adviser.
“Pénicaud did not appreciate being tackled live on BFMTV”
These two anecdotes, however, speak volumes about the relationship of the two ministers. The fire has been brewing for the past weekend and the controversy over the extension of the bereavement leave. Last Thursday, Muriel Pénicaud had made sure that an amendment recommending to extend this leave from five to twelve days, was not adopted in the Assembly, arguing that such a measure would generate a cost for businesses.
Not to the liking of Schiappa who was then out of the wood the next day on BFMTV to ask the government to reconsider its position. “Pénicaud did not appreciate being tackled live,” said a ministerial adviser. The two women explained this after the broadcast. But the episode clearly left its mark. “There is a violent relentlessness coming from the Ministry of Labor against Marlène Schiappa, because Muriel Pénicaud did not like to be caught in the wrong,” protests a friend of the Secretary of State.
Far from the slogans of unity and cohesion, advocated after the intervention of the Prime Minister in a group meeting. Some, like this ministerial adviser, prefer to remain a philosopher: “I don’t think that divides the government. But simply it hits the system a little bit in mode: we didn’t need that. “
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