Job shift creates hope and tension as election looms

PARIS - It's lunchtime and Parisians are queuing for baguettes at a bakery on the Rue Montmartre, a sight long typical of life in the French capital.

But three cyclists clad in neon-blue outfits chat outside and regularly check the smartphones strapped to their wrists, waiting for orders to whisk meals from nearby restaurants and bistros to other Parisians in their homes or offices.

They're among an army of riders working for the British-based Deliveroo firm who have rapidly become a familiar sight pedaling up and down the city's boulevards.

These recent scenes in the Montorgueil district of Paris offer two opposing visions for large parts of France's services economy; each is championed by one of the candidates likely to contest the runoff vote for the French presidency next month.

Far-right contender Marine Le Pen wants to protect the likes of the traditional French baker or driver of metered taxis in towns and cities across the country from unfair competition.

Her centrist rival Emmanuel Macron sees the "gig economy" of firms such as Deliveroo and the app-based cab service Uber as a model for creating jobs particularly in the "banlieues" - deprived suburban housing estates where unemployment is almost three times the national rate.

Still, concern is growing about a new class of working poor with no social protection, and with the rapid emergence of new forms of employment creating frictions, the next president will have to decide whether to say "stop" or "more" to the gig economy.

On the Rue Montmartre, the Deliveroo riders leaned toward the view of Macron - a former banker who tried to push through liberal reforms as economy minister from 2014-16 - even though they work as self-employed contractors without protections such as accident insurance that salaried staff automatically enjoy.

One was 21-year-old Nicolas Usunier, who dropped out of college in his first year and looked in vain for a job at bakeries and supermarkets. By contrast, becoming a Deliveroo rider was quick and easy, he said.

"I was struggling. Then I saw a guy doing that; two weeks later I was on my bike going around Paris," he said. "I know some would like a real contract, but I like the flexibility."

Strong rights

France is famous for strong rights enjoyed by those people who have traditional employment contracts. Their working week is set at just 35 hours and firing them is difficult.

Critics say this makes employers reluctant to hire and the price is chronic unemployment which, at almost 10 percent, is roughly double the rate in Germany or Britain.

Macron has denounced a French social model that he said cared more about protecting "insiders" on ironclad permanent contracts than opening up to "outsiders".

Not everyone shares his vision, especially Le Pen, who has leapt to defend traditional professionals such as taxi drivers from the newcomers.

"What's certain today is that this competition is unfair, it's illegal," she told France 2 television.