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   Vol. 70/No. 16           April 24, 2006  
 
 
Mass protests force Paris to rescind antilabor law
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
French president Jacques Chirac announced April 10 plans to scrap a new labor law that allows bosses to fire workers under 26 for any reason during their first two years on the job. Over the last two months, millions of students and workers joined nationwide strikes and other protests across the country to oppose this law, called the First Employment Contract (CPE). College and high school student groups and all major trade union federations backed these actions.

Chirac’s decision came the day before marches scheduled by student organizations. Unions and student groups had also set a deadline of April 17 for the government to rescind the law or face a new round of protests.

In an interview with the French daily Le Monde, French employment minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the CPE will be replaced with new measures that include financial incentives to employers to hire people under 26 who face “difficulties.”

“The CPE is dead, the CPE is well and truly finished,” student leader Julie Coudry told the Times of London.

In the fifth nationwide protest since February, at least 2 million demonstrators took to the streets in 195 cities on April 4. Union officials said 700,000 people marched in Paris, while government authorities claimed the crowd was 84,000 people. The actions included strikes by teachers, rail and airline employees, and postal workers. Walkouts by students at more than 50 of the country’s 84 universities and at some 300 high schools continued into the next day.

“I’m here to demonstrate against the government, which never listens to us,” Adler Innocent, 22, the son of Haitian immigrants, who lives near Paris, told the New York Times.

Last August, French premier Dominique de Villepin succeeded in putting into effect a version of the disputed law—the New Employment Contract—applying to companies with fewer than 20 employees. In January, Villepin announced his plan to extend this two-year probation period to all workers under 26.

As protests mounted, Chirac called for modifications in the law. In a March 31 nationwide address, the French president asked legislators to cut the probation period to one year and require employers to give a reason for any dismissal. He also requested that employers not issue contracts under this law until these changes are made. However, he then signed the original bill into law. The Socialist Party introduced legislation in parliament April 5 calling for its repeal.

Unions and student groups promptly rejected Chirac’s proposal and turned out in force for the April 4 marches and strikes. “If we don’t get what we are seeking, we’ll start making preparations for further mobilization,” Jacky Dintinger, secretary-general of the CFTC trade union federation, told Reuters.  
 
 
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