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France CPE Riot Watch: Protests Continue – “Only a First Victory”
Student leader Bruno Julliard smiles during an unions meeting outside Paris Monday April 10, 2006. President Jacques Chirac on Monday abandoned an employment measure that triggered massive protests and strikes, bowing to intense pressure from students and unions and dealing a blow to his loyal premier in a bid to pull France out of crisis. Poster reads ‘Withdraw the CPE’, which was the name of the planned new job contract.
Reuters: France faces more protests, asks if reform possible
France’s students and trade unions prepared a victory parade on Tuesday to mark the demise of a hated youth jobs law, with politicians and analysts split over whether the hope of labor market reform was dead too.
Opponents of the First Job Contract (CPE) vowed to keep up their guard until new measures to replace the “easy hire, easy fire” law for young workers have been passed.
In a sign that unrest that accompanied some of the protests might not be over, about 100 students blocked two bus depots in the southwestern city of Toulouse for four hours on Tuesday.
Anna Melun, local leader of the Unef student union, told Reuters that Monday was “a first victory” but students also had other grievances.
And the socialists in France will continue to stir the pot until they have victory in the 2007 elections when Chirac steps down. The business climate and the French economy will continue to flounder and unemployment will worsen.
And there is a “VICTORY?”
University employees hold signs for voters at the Rennes university, western France, Monday April 10, 2006. President Jacques Chirac on Monday abandoned an employment measure that triggered massive protests and strikes, bowing to intense pressure from students and unions and dealing a blow to his loyal premier Dominique de Villepin in a bid to pull France out of crisis. Opponents to blockade are invited to go on the left, while supporters of the blockade should go to the right.
Parliament will this evening start to debate the ruling party’s measures to help disadvantaged young people find work a day after President Jacques Chirac scrapped the CPE, a measure aimed at reducing a youth unemployment rate of 22 percent.
The marches, due to start early afternoon, should test sentiment since the government’s climbdown, though around 600 young people earlier marched in the southern city of Marseille demanding the total withdrawal of the equal opportunities law.
“We are calling for the pressure to be kept up until parliament votes the repeal of the CPE, including by blocking universities if necessary,” said Unef national head Bruno Julliard.
Unions refrained from calling for fresh strikes and some universities, including the protest center at Rennes in western France, voted to reopen classes with Easter holidays and spring examinations fast approaching.
So, is economic reform dead in France until the 2007 elections?
Most probably.
Stay tuned for photos of the victory march……
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: UNHINGED French Motorist Drives Through Crowd of Protesting Students
France CPE Riot Watch: Villepin Rejects Resignation Speculation
France CPE Riot Watch: Students Protest CPE By Blocking Roads and Trains
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: French President Jacques Chirac Scraps First Job Contract (CPE) Youth Employment Law
French President Jacques Chirac (3rd L) attends a meeting with his cabinet including Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (2nd R) on the controversial CPE youth jobs contract law at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 10, 2006. France will scrap the planned youth contract that has provoked mass protests and strikes, President Jacques Chirac’s office said on Monday.
Reuters: France scraps youth job law, bowing to mass unrest
French President Jacques Chirac on Monday scrapped a planned youth job law that provoked weeks of protests, in a climbdown opponents celebrated as an unqualified victory.
The move was a personal blow to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who had championed the First Job Contract (CPE) and seen his popularity slump with the mass opposition and unrest.
In a televised statement, Villepin said he regretted that weeks of strikes and protests showed the CPE could not be applied but gave no details about his own political future, on the line over his handling of the dispute.
France’s Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin gives a speech at his Hotel Matignon offices in Paris April 10, 2006 after a decision by French President Jacques Chirac to scrap planned youth job contract CPE that has provoked weeks of protests and a political crisis. Villepin, who has championed the job law, said in the televised statement he regretted that events had shown the contract could not be applied.
President Jacques Chirac bowing to youth and union pressure ends the controversial CPE and puts the final nail in the heart of his Prime Minister. Dominique de Villepin will resign and retire from public life after his standing in the polls for Chirac’s job has plummetted from around 49 per cent to 25 per cent.
A poll for Liberation newspaper showed Villepin’s popularity stood at 49 percent in the first week of January and had fallen to 25 percent this weekend. Negative opinion of Chirac rose from 56 percent to 64 percent over the same period.
The poll also showed 63 percent of voters said Socialist ideas on reform were no better than those of the right.
And the Socialists have not even named a candidate yet for this year’s elections.
So, what did Chirac actually do today. How do you repeal a duly enacted law in France?
Replace it.
“The president of the republic has decided to replace article 8 of the equal opportunities law with measures to help disadvantaged young people find work,” an earlier statement from the presidency said.
The new measures include increased financial incentives to employers to hire people under 26 who face the most difficulties in getting access to the labor market, Employment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper.
That would apply to approximately 159,000 young people currently hired under government-subsidized job contracts and the cost to the government would be around 150 million euros ($180 million) in the second half of 2006, Borloo said.
Those measures could be introduced in parliament as early this week, a senior UMP deputy said.
France’s youth unemployment stands at 22 percent and lack of jobs is the country’s number one political issue and a major reason for weeks of rioting in poor suburbs late last year.
Chirac and Villepin were careful in their statements to say that the CPE was being “replaced,” but others called it dead.
So, will the mass street protests and school/university blockades continue tomorrow?
Possible.
The Chirac government has replaced a legitimate attempt to solve the youth unemployment program (22 per cent youth unemployment and up to 50 per cent in immigrant communities) with more government spending (socialism). Will this reform work?
Probably NOT.
Stay tuned…..
Captain Ed:Â France Does What Comes Naturally
Chirac may salvage some political juice from this mess, but the center-right coalition has its days numbered. The people do not want market-based reforms, even in such a mild form as the CPE. The unions and the students in the street will not risk another attempt to hold them accountable for their job performance but instead will demand even greater job protections. That will benefit the Socialists in the next election, who will give the French what they demand, and that will only deliver even more economic misery. In the meantime, the French will keep insisting that the “Anglo-Saxon” model of market economics does not fit their lifestyles, allowing their historical mistrust of l’Angleterre to cloud their economic policies.
France will not fight. It is an old story, and history repeats itself yet again
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: UNHINGED French Motorist Drives Through Crowd of Protesting Students
France CPE Riot Watch: Villepin Rejects Resignation Speculation
France CPE Riot Watch: Students Protest CPE By Blocking Roads and Trains
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: UNHINGED French Motorist Drives Through Crowd of Protesting Students
A student falls as he tries to stop a car after it ploughed into demonstrators in Paris, April 7, 2006, injuring at least one.
Police hold back protesters gathered around an overturned car after a motorist drove through a crowd of protesting students on Paris’ Left Bank on Friday, April 7, 2006, injuring seven people. Furious demonstrators overturned the car and tried to kick its windows out. France‘s students have been protesting for weeks over a new law that will make it easier for companies to hire and fire people under age 26.
ASSociated Press: Motorist Drives Through Crowd in Paris
A motorist drove through a crowd of students protesting the government’s new youth jobs law Friday near the Sorbonne University, injuring seven people.
Furious demonstrators overturned the car and tried to kick its windows out, while police in riot gear and helmets worked to disperse the crowd.
Protesters turn over a car after the motorist drove through a crowd of protesting students on Paris’ Left Bank on Friday, April 7, 2006, injuring seven people. Furious demonstrators overturned the car and tried to kick its windows out. France’s students have been protesting for weeks.
The incident came after high school students spent the afternoon disrupting traffic outside the Sorbonne by picnicking on a busy boulevard. They were heading away when a frustrated motorist tried to burst through the crowd.
Several dozen youths turned the car over and unsuccessfully attempted to drag the driver out before police and onlookers intervened.
Firefighters said seven people suffered light injuries.
Come on Folks…….running over students because you are frustrated with some protests.
Good Grief……
Stay tuned…….
A protestor kicks a car after the motorist drove through a crowd of protesting students on Paris’ Left Bank on Friday, April 7, 2006, injuring seven people. Furious demonstrators overturned the car and tried to kick its windows out.
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: Villepin Rejects Resignation Speculation
France CPE Riot Watch: Students Protest CPE By Blocking Roads and Trains
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: Villepin Rejects Resignation Speculation
French Prime minister Dominique de Villepin speaks during a press conference. Villepin, fighting for his political life over an aborted youth jobs reform that brought millions on to the streets, appeared to rule out resigning over the crisis.
ASSociated Press: French PM Rejects Resignation Speculation
Some 2,000 angry students massed on railroad tracks in Paris Thursday, halting international train traffic in a fresh push to force a new youth labor law off the books.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin refused to say whether the measure would be repealed.
Villepin spoke more clearly about his own destiny, brushing off growing speculation that he would resign.
President Jacques Chirac “gave me a mission, and this mission, I will lead it to the end,” Villepin told a news conference. “All the rest is pure speculation and fantasy.”
Well, President Chirac “PIMP SLAPPED” Villepin last week when he agreed to modify the CPE and Villepin still wants to stay for more abuse.
WOW!
Students invade the Toulouse train station, southwestern France, Thursday April 6, 2006. Students and unions have been in a weeks-long standoff with the conservative government over the law, which will make it easier for companies to hire and fire young workers.
Calling for calm, he said he was listening to the voices of discontent over his reform aimed at denting sky-high joblessness among youth by making it easier for employers to hire and fire younger workers. Lawmakers from the governing Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, met for a second day with unions and students in search of a way out. Protesters are demanding the measure be withdrawn.
“The immediate priority, as we all know, is restoring calm,” Villepin said. “It is time to get out of the crisis.”
Well, Villepin is right about restoring order and to get out of crisis mode. And he may have been right in principle with the CPE and reducing youth unemployment.
But, the French people are used to socialism and want the easy redistributive life.
Villepin relentlessly defended the job proposal for weeks until Chirac signed the controversial measure into law last weekend but ordered the talks with labor and student groups.
Villepin refused to prejudge the outcome of negotiations, appearing to back down from his previous, inflexible stance.
“I am pragmatic. In this time of dialogue it is important to be open,” he said. “I am listening.”
But the prime minister insisted that the 23 percent youth unemployment rate, which climbs above 50 percent in depressed, heavily immigrant neighborhoods, is at the heart of many French problems, including riots last fall.
“It is my responsibility, as head of the government, not to allow such a situation go unanswered,” he said. “Our country today needs action.”
France does need action.
But, it appears it will be Nicolas Sarkozy who will next lead the country and not Dominique de Villepin.
Stay tuned……..
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: Students Protest CPE By Blocking Roads and Trains
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: Students Protest CPE By Blocking Roads and Trains
A group of students invade the railway tracks as police stand by at the Gare du Nord train station, in Paris, Thursday April 6, 2006. Students and unions have been in a week-long standoff with the conservative government over the law, which will make it easier for companies to hire and fire young workers.
ASSociated Press: Students in France Block Roads, Trains
Students protesting a new labor law put more pressure on France’s embattled government Thursday by blocking roads, trains and a convoy of parts heading to the factory that builds the world’s largest airliner.
About 100 students blocked a highway used by trucks carrying Airbus A380 parts to the factory outside Toulouse, in southwest France. The pre-dawn protest was calm but prevented the delivery for about two and a half hours, police said.
Students who participated in massive nationwide street demonstrations that drew between 1 million and 3 million protesters Tuesday were using wildcat disruptions around the country Thursday as they tried to force the government to repeal a law that will make it easier to hire and fire young people.
Demonstrators burst onto tracks at two Paris train stations, and police in riot gear pushed them back. Protesters also slowed traffic around Paris’ Orly airport, forcing some harried travelers to drag their luggage on foot.
Obviously the Chiracx government cannot maintain civil order in France. Last Fall it was the Muslim immigrant youths who ravaged and burned automobiles.
In response, Prime Minister Villepin proposed a change in the youth employment law, the CPE First Contract. This has met with protests/demonstrations and lawlessness.
Will the Chirac government capitulate to the the students and labor unions.
You betcha……just a matter of time.
Stay tuned……
A student steps on a railway track with stickers on her shoes reading ‘withdraw CPE’ during a protest at the Gare du Nord railway station in Paris April 6, 2006. Students across the country continue to press for a withdrawal of the controversial CPE, a youth hire-and-fire law.
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: French Unions Set April 15 Deadline for CPE Repeal
Students and union members block the access to the MIN (wholesale market) in Nantes, western France. French union and student leaders set an Easter deadline for the government to repeal its youth jobs law or face a repeat of the million-strong protests that have engulfed the nation.
Reuters: French unions set deadline for jobs law repeal
French trade unions on Wednesday set President Jacques Chirac an April 15 deadline to repeal a disputed youth jobs law, scenting victory amid mass protests and the sliding poll ratings of Chirac’s government.
As fears grew about the impact of the dispute on the euro zone’s second-largest economy, students blockaded roads in several cities in a second day of scattered protests after Tuesday’s marches drew at least 1 million onto the streets.
Union chiefs met conservative deputies for discussions after Chirac last week effectively took Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin off the case and promised parliamentary amendments to soften the “easy hire, easy fire” First Job Contract (CPE).
“We asked for the CPE to be repealed as soon as possible,” CFDT union leader Francois Chereque said afterwards.
“They had nothing to say. We didn’t get any response.”
Well, Chirac has to tread very lightly. Since he sold out Prime Minister Villepin last week and agreed to modify the law, any sign of a repeal would precipitate the Prime Minister’s resignation. Then, Chirac would be left with the mess without a stooge.
Villepin must realize that his chances to succeed Chirac are minimus at this point and so his resignation may be imminent – certainly it is inevitable.
Force Ouvriere union chief Rene Valladon said France’s 12 main unions wanted the three-day-old law repealed by April 15.
Students are due to hold protests next Tuesday but unions have so far not called any more strikes. Asked what unions would do if the deadline was not met, Valladon said “nothing was ruled out” and that unions would meet on Monday to plot strategy.
Scrapping the law could be the last nail in the coffin for Villepin’s premiership. His poll ratings have plumbed new depths and his authority in government is already being challenged by rivals, notably ambitious Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
But the setting of the deadline of April 15 — the start of France’s Easter vacations — could reflect trade union concerns that the protests could fizzle out over the holiday period.
Villepin told parliament enigmatically that he would “draw the conclusions” of any decisions made on the law, but did not explain what he planned to do. Some local media concluded it was a veiled resignation threat, while others said it was unclear.
Villepin and the CPE emplyment law will be history by the 15th.
Stay tuned……..
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: Second Straight Day of CPE Protests
France‘s Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (R) and Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope leave the Elysee Palace in Paris after the weekly cabinet meeting April 5, 2006. French unions will meet figures from President Jacques Chirac ‘s ruling right for talks in the afternoon on a contested youth jobs law, bolstered by street protests demanding the new hire-and-fire rules be scrapped.
ASSociated Press: Police, Jobs Law Protesters Clash in Paris
Demonstrators blocked roads, rail lines and mail delivery trucks Wednesday in a second straight day of protests to demand the repeal of a divisive jobs law, while unions vowed they would not compromise in talks withPresident Jacques Chirac’s ruling party on the issue.
So, will the Chirac/Villepin government cave into the students and unions?
Or do they want more photos like this……..
French riot police officers detain students in Lille, northern France, Tuesday April 4, 2006 after a demonstration against the French government’s new labor law. Police said at least 1 million people poured into the streets across France on Tuesday and youths clashed with riot officers in the latest protests against the government’s new jobs law.
This unrest is ruining France’s tourism and business climate…..as is their high youth unemployment.
Buoyed by the success of marches that drew more than 1 million protesters Tuesday, unions were in a position of strength heading into talks that Chirac’s government hoped might offer a way out of the crisis.
“Students must be able to prepare for exams, and high schoolers must go back to school,” Chirac said in a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, according to a spokesman. Some universities have been shut down for weeks, and many high schools have been affected, as well.
Labor leader Bernard Thibault said the repeal of the law, which would make it easier to fire young workers, was “not negotiable.” Unions also met among themselves to discuss further protest action, determined to maintain the intense pressure that has fractured the embattled conservative government.
Villepin and Chirac have bungled youth employment reform and the socialists who wish to control the government (after upcoming elections) are happy to rub their noses in the mire.
Flap handicaps a withdrawl of the CPE and Villepin from public life.
The winner:
France’s Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy (C) walks with police, after police clashed with youths following a nationwide protest demanding the government scrap the First Job Contract (CPE), in Paris April 4, 2006. French transport workers and teachers staged new strikes on Tuesday and students across the country gathered for street protests they hope will kill off the disputed CPE, a youth hire-and-fire law.
The Chirac government will meet this afternoon with the dissident unions.
Stay tuned…..
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: Latest CPE Protest Turns Violent
Youths stand behind a fire after a demonstration in Rennes, western France, Tuesday, April 4, 2006. Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through cities around France, hoping to make their biggest show of strength yet to demand the repeal of a job law that has divided the country, known as CPE, and which would make it easier for employers to fire young workers.
ASSociated Press: Latest Paris Demonstration Turns Violent
Demonstrators opposed to a new jobs law swarmed parts of downtown Paris on Tuesday, throwing stones, tearing down street signs and ripping up park benches. Riot police, firing tear gas canisters and making several charges, carried away protesters in handcuffs.
Police said at least 1 million people poured into the streets around the country in the latest protests against the law, which makes it easier to fire young workers. Organizers said 3 million people marched.
A nationwide strike shut down the Eiffel Tower and snarled air and rail travel for the second time in a week while students barricaded themselves in schools.
It was the second time in a week that unions and student groups had succeeded in mobilizing such numbers. The largest march, in Paris, drew at least 80,000 people, while 935,000 marched in other parts of the country, police said.
Organizers put the figure in the capital at 700,000.
But, there was violence…..
Riot police officers chase youths after a demonstration in a street of Rennes, western France, Tuesday, April 4, 2006.
Protestors smash shop windows during a student demonstration against the First Job Contract (CPE) in Lille, northern France, April 4, 2006. French transport workers and teachers staged new strikes on Tuesday and students across the country gathered for street protests they hope will kill off the disputed CPE, a youth hire-and-fire law.
Violence erupted at the end of the largest protest, in Paris, with youths pelting police with stones, fighting and using metal bars to break up chunks of pavement that they hurled at helmeted riot officers.
One young woman twirled flaming batons. The sounds of blowing whistles were heard throughout the plaza.
Officers carrying batons and shields charged several times, making arrests.
Violence over this CPE First Job Contract law is ridiculous. These demonstrations will ruin France’s tourism and business climate.
But, perhaps that is what the unions and socialists desire……
Riot police arrest a protestor following clashes between an element of violent demonstrators and police after a student demonstration against the First Job Contract (CPE) in Lille, northern France, April 4, 2006. French transport workers and teachers staged new strikes on Tuesday and students across the country gathered for street protests they hope will kill off the disputed CPE, a youth hire-and-fire law.
Stay tuned…….
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: Another Nationwide Strike Over CPE Hits France
Students shout slogans during a demonstration in Bordeaux, south western France, Tuesday, April 4, 2006, against the First Job Contract law, known as CPE law. Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through French cities Tuesday, with organizers aiming for a final total of more than 1 million and their biggest show of strength yet to demand the repeal of a job law that has divided the country.
ASSociated Press: Another Nationwide Strike Disrupts France
A nationwide strike shut down the Eiffel Tower and snarled air and rail travel for the second time in a week Tuesday while students barricaded themselves in schools to protest a jobs measure that has riven the country and put the government in crisis mode.
Protesters have mounted ever-larger demonstrations for two months against the law, which would make it easier to fire young workers. But President Jacques Chirac signed it anyway Sunday, saying it will help France keep pace with the global economy.
He offered modifications, but students and unions rejected them, saying they want the law withdrawn, not softened.
“What Chirac has done is not enough,” said Rebecca Konforti, 18, who was among a group of students who jammed tables against the door of their high school in southern Paris to block entry. “They’re not really concessions. He just did it to calm the students.”
Will the Chirac/Villepin government acquiesce to the Leftie Unions and Socialists?
Stay tuned……..
People carry banners and march during a general strike to protest the French center-right government’s economic and labor policies in the street of Rennes, western France, Tuesday, April 4, 2006. Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through French cities Tuesday, with organizers aiming for a final total of more than 1 million and their biggest show of strength yet to demand the repeal of a job law that has divided the country.
Previous:
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy -
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Signs First Job Contract CPE into Law
Students react in Nantes, western France, as they watch French President Jacques Chirac ‘s television address on the contested government’s youth jobs law. Trade unions and students appeared more determined than ever to press ahead with strikes and demonstrations against a new youth jobs law despite a compromise plan by Chirac aimed at defusing the crisis
CNN: Chirac signs job changes into law
President Jacques Chirac signed a contested measure to promote jobs for youths into law on Sunday even though he has said it would be replaced by a modified version to defuse a crisis that has led to violent demonstrations and dealt France’s prime minister a major setback.
However, unions hoped that another round of strikes and demonstrations set for Tuesday would provide a still more powerful push to get the measure — in any form — withdrawn.
And who has the political winner been in this compromise proposal by Chirac?
Interior Minister and UMP Party President Nicolas Sarkozy.
French Government UMP party President Nicolas Sarkozy answers journalists’ questions after a meeting with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin at the Matignon hotel in Paris. The opposition Socialist party called on the French to throw their weight behind a nationwide strike Tuesday after President Jacques Chirac failed to win support for modifications of an unpopular easy-hire, easy-fire law.
Chirac, in a television address Friday night, said he wanted a softer, revised law with two key modifications to replace the unpopular one, which Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has vigorously defended. Critics say Villepin should have shown more flexibility. Chirac said he signed the contested law out of respect, he said, for French institutions, noting that it had been passed by parliament and approved by the Constitutional Council. However, he asked that it not be applied.
Chirac’s double-barreled approach was a face-saving measure for Villepin, keeping the law alive, at least in theory, but widely seen as a rebuff of the prime minister. A decision announced Saturday to turn the writing of a second bill over to parliament — removing it from the hands of the government — was viewed as a further insult.
Villepin gets thrown out with the CPE and Sarkozy becomes the NEW heir to the Chirac presidency. True French politics. Ask Colin Powell.
The move to place the new bill in the hands of parliament put Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy — Villepin’s party rival — at center-stage in pulling the country out of the crisis. Sarkozy had said the law should be suspended. The ambitious interior minister hopes to be a presidential candidate in 2007 elections for the governing Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, which he heads.
Watch for the unions to make a deal with Sarkozy on the modification of the CPE -notwithstandig that the law may be good for the French economy and social unrest brought about by high youth unemployment.
But, also watch for big protest demonstrations on Tuesday as the LEFT tries to put a nail into Villepin’s heart over CPE.
Stay tuned……
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France CPE Riot Watch: Lefties Reject Talks and Vow More CPE Protests
France CPE Riot Watch: Jacques Chirac Capitulates on SOME of Job Law
France CPE Riot Watch: Constitutional Council Upholds CPE Jobs Law
France CPE Riot Watch:Fate of CPE Up to Constitutional Council
France CPE Riot Watch: A Million People March to Protest CPE First Job Contract
France CPE Riot Watch: French Police Subdue Riots
France CPE Riot Watch: First Job Contract Protests Grip French Cities
France Riot Watch: Students Riot in Paris over New Youth Employment Contract
Technorati Tags:France, FranceRiots, CPE, DominiquedeVillepin, FirstEmploymentContract, JacquesChirac, NicolasSarkozy