Prime minister Edouard Philippe announced that the government would use a legal tool of the French constitution — Article 49, line 3, widely known as “the 49.3” — to pass the measures after only 13 days of debates.
The 49.3 allows bills to bypass a parliamentary vote, infuriating both opposition lawmakers and trade unions who have been protesting against the plans since December 5.
The unions called for renewed protests across France.
Thousands demonstrated on Monday against the use of the 49.3 in Paris, Marseille and Montpellier.
The unions’ collective criticised the government’s “inability to answer the Assemblee’s serious and legitimate questions regarding this incomplete, vague project.”
President Emmanuel Macron’s party, La Republique en Marche (LREM), has a comfortable parliamentary majority and would have easily won a vote, but LREM officials argued that debates would have taken up months of parliamentary time.
The motions of no confidence have been filed by both sides of the political spectrum: one was filed by the three left-wing parties (the Socialists, the France Insoumise and the Communists) and the other by the right-wing Republicains party.
They will be debated on Tuesday until late into the evening, following a session of questions to the government.
