The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, has invoked a constitutional measure to force through contested labour laws, bypassing parliament.



“This country is too used to mass unemployment,” Valls told parliament as many members booed and several walked out of the chamber.

Valls said he was acting in the “general interest” of the French people. “It is not posturing, it’s not intransigence,” he said.

The prime minister said more than 800 amendments had been added to the legislation after “a quality debate”, but a “coalition of immobility” had held up the reform drive aimed at reducing unemployment.

Union- and student-backed demonstrations against the changes – which are seen as too pro-business and a threat to workers’ rights – began nearly four months ago and at times have descended into violence.

MPs have 24 hours to decide whether to call a vote of no confidence in Valls’ government, which the rightwing opposition has already ruled out.

It is the second time the government has used the 49-3 provision for this package of measures because it could not count on the votes of the left flank of the Socialist party in parliament.

A poll published last week found that 73% of French people said they would be “shocked” if the government used the 49-3 provision for the final passage of the measures.

Unemployment in France stands at 10% overall, and for young people the figure is closer to 25%. More than 3.5 million people in mainland France are registered as jobless.