French government uses special power to pass labor reform

French Prime minister Manuel Valls leaves after a brief emergency cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The French government has decided to use special power to pass a hotly contested labor reform without vote at lower house of parliament. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (The Associated Press)

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French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron arrives for a brief emergency cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The French government has decided to use special power to pass a hotly contested labor reform without vote at lower house of parliament. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (The Associated Press)

French Prime minister Manuel Valls arrives for a brief emergency cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The French government has decided to use special power to pass a hotly contested labor reform without vote at lower house of parliament. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – The French government has decided to use special powers to pass a hotly contested labor reform without vote in the lower house of parliament.

The decision to use the article 49-3 of the Constitution was made Tuesday after the government failed to find a compromise on the bill with legislators and convened a brief emergency Cabinet meeting.

The reform has divided the governing Socialist party, where a group of rebels refuses to vote for it.

The conservative opposition has warned it will file a censure motion if the government uses the article 49-3.

The reform, which would make it easier to lay off workers, weaken some union powers, and relax rules regulating the country's 35-hour workweek, has sparked violent protests across the country in recent weeks.