French PM kicks off defence of unpopular labour reforms

France's Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Monday kicked off three days of talks aimed at salvaging deeply unpopular labour reform proposals, with street protests planned later in the week. Valls and his labour and economy ministers were holding separate meetings with leading unions to garner support for the measures that would give bosses more flexibility in hiring and firing. Meanwhile the Valls government faces intense popular opposition to the reform plans, with seven in 10 French peo