Posted on 03/28/2006 6:19:30 AM PST by libertarianPA
PARIS - Tens of thousands of protesters poured onto France's streets and striking workers hobbled transport services Tuesday, increasing pressure on embattled Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to withdraw a contested new jobs contract for youths.
Cracks opened in his conservative government as public pressure mounted, with Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy suggesting that the contract be suspended to allow talks with unions, in a clear break with Villepin.
Paris and other cities deployed thousands of police to prevent a possible resurgence of violence that marred previous demonstrations against the contract, which would make it easier for companies to fire young workers. Protest marches took place in scores of cities and towns.
"We have to defend the rights that were won by our ancestors and which the current government is trying to take away," said Maxime Ourly, a literature student who joined tens of thousands protesting on Paris' Left Bank.
Students and labor unions say the contract will erode France's cherished workplace protections. Set to take effect next month, it would let companies fire employees aged under 26 without reason in the first two years on the job.
Even with huge marches under way, Villepin held firm. He told parliament that he was open to talks on employment and possible changes to the contract but did not say that he would withdraw it.
"Only in action will we convince all of the French that tomorrow can be better than today," he said, loudly heckled by opposition politicians.
Villepin says the greater flexibility will encourage companies to hire young workers, who face a 22-percent unemployment rate — the highest in Western Europe. But as protests have grown, his government — and chances of running for the presidency next year — have appeared increasingly fragile.
Sarkozy, the interior minister also gunning to be the conservative camp's presidential candidate, told a meeting of lawmakers from the ruling UMP party on Tuesday that the contract should not go into force as long as talks to resolve the crisis are still possible, his aides said.
Villepin's sputtering effort at reform underscores the dilemma facing many countries in Europe that have lush jobs protections and social safety nets under threat by competition from fast-rising Asian economies with cheaper labor and fewer workplace protections.
According to police estimates, 31,000 marched Tuesday in the southwestern city of Bordeaux, 28,000 in the southern port city of Marseille, 26,000 in the Alpine city of Grenoble and 17,000 in Lyon. Organizers' turnout figures were far higher.
Protesters in Paris said they wanted to defend the status quo.
"We are here for our children. We are very worried about what will happen to them," said Philippe Decrulle, an Air France flight attendant. "My son is 23, and he has no job. That is normal in France."
Light rain did not dampen the festive atmosphere, with red union flags and balloons floating over the marchers and stands selling them sausages.
Police deployed against troublemakers, fearing a repeat of the violence at a march last week when suburban youths attacked peaceful demonstrators and police.
Sarkozy, meeting with police officers before the Paris march got under way, urged them to arrest as many troublemakers as possible.
"It will be another difficult day. You will be judged on the number of arrests and on your cool," he said.
The strike slowed train, plane, subway and bus services across the country to a fraction of their normal levels. It was the first time that unions had ordered walkouts in solidarity with students spearheading protests against the job contract.
France's top five labor union federations also refused Villepin's invitation to meet Wednesday for talks, insisting that he shelve the contract first.
President Jacques Chirac canceled a planned trip Tuesday to the northern port city of Le Havre "in light of events," his office said.
It's inevitable. France will surrender to itself.
LOL
Ah, the delusions of socialism. So hard to give up.
Whoa! That sounds pretty fascist to me. /s
I'll give em this - they're very militant about being able to legally keep their jobs regardless of performance.
There is an important lesson in all of this -- once you give an entitlement it is almost impossible to take it back, no matter the drain on the economy.
Ronald McDonald & Friends - quick! - barracade your storefront and man the forward positions. Les barbarians are coming.
Maybe in 1940 the French generals should have told their soldiers that the Germans were coming to take their jobs.
I'm sure it helps that Cireac was quoted in some french publication as saying "if the protests do not die down, Villepan is will sacked"
I know I spelled all their names wrong... I don't care ;)
Nice!
They'd have been marching through Berlin that June instead of vice versa.
Welfare states cannot support itself over a multi-generation timeline.
By the 2nd and 3rd generation, any work ethic is destroyed.
Sadly I cant make fun of the poodles on this while our streets are clogged with thousands of illegals demanding rights.
"France's cherished workplace protections" are killing France. And who is going to pay any attention to this? People pour into Paris's streets like clockwork about every two weeks. Observers will just think it is another anti-American protest and go on their way.
The guy who said he's there for his son who's 23 and unemployed and that's the way it is in France...can he NOT see that IF this plan is allowed to unfold, his son would pry HAVE a job...which would be an improvement. And if he behaved, he would pry STILL have that job in 2 years. Do nothing, however, and he will continue to have NO job!
Incroyable!
One solution might be to set up enterprise zones wherein socialist and union rules do not apply. This would permit the government to appease the unions and students every else (which is what they will do eventually anyway) and still have incubators for "free market" experiments (which will perform as all free markets perform). Structure the free enterprise zones so as to encourage entrepreneurial behavior (i.e. use the incubator models used by universities like Georgia Tech).
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