Posted on 03/28/2006 7:54:52 AM PST by quantim
PARIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of French transport workers, teachers and other employees staged a one-day national strike or marched through the streets on Tuesday to try to force the government to abandon a new youth job law.
The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors until the evening, commuters faced delays on trains and Paris underground rail services and airports were hit by stoppages in protest against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's CPE First Job Contract.
Villepin, 52, stood firm over the plan but the strong turnout increased pressure on him to amend or withdraw the measure and calls for his resignation are growing.
"We're demanding the complete withdrawal of the CPE. You can't treat people like slaves. Giving all the power to the bosses is going too far," said Gregoire de Oliviera, a 21-year-old student in Paris.
Villepin hopes the CPE will reduce youth unemployment from almost 23 percent, but union and student leaders say it will create a generation of "throwaway workers" because it makes it easier to dismiss employees under 26 in a trial two-year period.
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Paris and organisers said 250,000 people took to the streets in Marseille, where banners read "We will not give up" and protesters daubed "Anti-CPE" on their faces.
In Grenoble, in the east, up to 60,000 people protested and 40,000 people protested in Pau in the southwest, unions said.
There were reports of isolated skirmishes but not on the same scale as violence that marred protests last week.
Villepin, a potential candidate in next year's presidential election, faces his biggest challenge since becoming prime minister last May.
Business leaders fear France's image will be damaged if protests continue and that investment and tourism could suffer, particularly because the crisis has erupted so soon after rioting by angry youths in French city suburbs late last year.
VILLEPIN APPEALS TO UNIONS
Unions refused to meet Villepin for talks on Wednesday but he renewed the invitation, telling parliament he was ready to compromise on two points -- the length of the trial period and the terms for giving notice.
"Useful time remains, let's use it for dialogue. But there is one thing that I will not accept ... that is to remain with my arms folded given youth unemployment about which you have never spoken before," he told jeering opposition deputies.
Villepin, a former foreign minister, also faces pressure from inside the ruling conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) headed by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a likely rival for the 2007 presidential race.
The UMP parliamentary group on Tuesday backed Sarkozy's proposal that the government not rush to enforce the law and so leave the door open for further negotiations.
President Jacques Chirac, who has backed Villepin during the crisis, cancelled a trip to northern France planned for Thursday because of the situation, sources close to the president said.
Opinion polls show almost two-thirds of French people oppose the CPE. Even so, commuters were frustrated by the strike which caused delays on many rail lines.
"Why do you have to make all French suffer," French traveller Patricia said at Charles de Gaulle airport, where several flights were cancelled. "Fine that you're against the CPE. But why block the whole country, rather than talk?"
Mass street demonstrations are closely watched in France after protests over pensions reforms in 1995 which were widely credited with losing the conservatives the snap election called two years later -- in part on Villepin's advice.
Fears of a broader revolt have been fuelled by the incidents in Paris last week including looting, clashes with riot police and the mugging of student demonstrators by hardcore elements.
Exactly.
Anybody got the numbers handy for the French economy? This looks like a sign of growing desperation on the part of the French government to address certain crippling elements of their economy.
Someone should point out for them that "slavery" is when you're not allowed to quit.
The irony is so thick, you could spread it on a croissant.
I don't know if Louis XIV's tomb was one of the ones demolished in the Terror; if not, they should dig him up & jumpstart him to get that country running again. Not even DeGaulle could save them now.
I hope there is a great welfare system in France. What the hell do the students think they are going to do if no one can be fired? If workers can't be fired there are no openings for the students coming out of school unless they start their own business. Then they will find that they can't fire anyone. How delicious!
Personally I admire the French for their healthy independent spirit. Can you imagine millions of people protesting U.S. immigration policy? Just think about it. Over 65% of Americans believe Congress is selling citizens down the river. People are angry. The government is not enforcing the law. In America, we always talk about the silent majority. What if we actually began speaking out?
I'm watching it on FNC - the police are using tear gas on them now.
Riot policemen clash with demonstrators, in Rennes, western France, as part of a day of strikes and protest against the government's contested First Employment Contract (CPE). More than a million people joined a rolling wave of strikes and protests across France in the biggest show of force yet against the government's new youth jobs law, as scuffles broke out on the fringes of a Paris rally.(AFP/Fred Dufour)
Youths attempt to wrestle a video camera from a journalist (C) during a nationwide protest by students and unions, demanding the government to scrap a contentious youth jobs law, during a demonstration in Paris March 28, 2006. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)
Hooded youths from the poor suburbs of Paris taunt riot police during a nationwide protest demanding the government to scrap a youth jobs law during a demonstration in Place de la Republique in Paris March 28, 2006. Students and unions in France stepped up protests against the First Employment Contract (CPE) law, an open-ended contract for under 26-year-olds that can be terminated within the first two years without justification. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
A French student is attacked by a gang of hooded youths from poor suburbs during a nationwide protest demanding the government to scrap a youth jobs law during a demonstration in Place de la Republique in Paris March 28, 2006. Students and unions in France stepped up protests against the First Employment Contract (CPE) law, an open-ended contract for under 26-year-olds that can be terminated within the first two years without justification. REUTERS/Thierry Roge
...we just need to convince these people that al Quada is anti union and we'd have some really good allies in the War on Terror...
French students are attacked by a gang of hooded youths from poor suburbs during a nationwide protest demanding the government to scrap a youth jobs law during a demonstration in Rennes, western France, March 28, 2006.
Hooded youths from the poor suburbs of Paris throw projectiles at riot police during a nationwide protest demanding the government to scrap a youth jobs law during a demonstration in Place de la Republique in Paris March 28, 2006.
Projectiles = rocks, bottles, and "oars" per on-site reporter on Fox News...
A youth avoids teargas after a students' demonstration against the first job contract, or CPE in Rennes, western France, Tuesday March 28, 2006. Tens of thousands of protesters poured onto France's streets and striking workers hobbled transport services increasing pressure on the embattled prime minister to withdraw a contested new jobs contract for youths. (AP Photo/Vincent Michel)
A French student is attacked by a gang of hooded youths from poor suburbs during a nationwide protest demanding the government to scrap a youth jobs law during a demonstration in Place de la Republique in Paris March 28, 2006
A unionist holds a red flare and shouts slogans against the First Labour Contract (CPE) during a protest in Lille, France, March 28, 2006.
Policemen in plainclothes arrest a youth, during clashes following a students' demonstration against the first job contract, or CPE, in Rennes, western France, Tuesday March 28, 2006
A youth with blood on his face sits behind French riot police after being apprehended during clashes at the end of a student and union protest against youth job law First Job Contract (CPE) in Paris March 28, 2006.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.