French march again on jobs law
2006-04-04 19:39
Paris - Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators joined rallies across France on Tuesday in a fresh assault by students and striking public sector workers on a youth hire-and-fire contract.
Two months of sometimes violent demonstrations took their
toll on the popularity of the contract's main champion, Prime
Minister Dominique de Villepin, whose ratings in a new poll slid
14 points in a month to 28% in March.
Unions said the turnout should reach the three million
figure seen in last week's protests, among the biggest in
France's 48-year-old Fifth Republic.
Police estimates were not immediately available but were
expected to be much lower. Police said one million joined the
demonstrations on March 28, a third of organisers' estimates.
"The only solution is to scrap it (the law)," Lisa Mancin,
an 18-year-old student said before the main rally in Paris.
Stopped short of withdrawing
President Jacques Chirac's conservatives have stopped short
of agreeing to withdraw the law but, faced with sliding poll
ratings and internal rifts, hinted they could make concessions.
Villepin told a rowdy parliament session the government
would not "throw in the towel". But the long-time Chirac ally
risked being sidelined as Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, his
main rival to lead the right in 2007 presidential elections,
emerged as a possible broker to end the conflict.
The fall in Villepin's approval ratings in the survey by
pollster BVA for L'Express magazine was "of a size rarely seen
since BVA started (June 1981) measuring the popularity of prime
ministers", BVA said in a commentary.
"There is new blood in this movement," CGT union chief
Bernard Thibault said of the protests, closely watched for signs
they had peaked after the softer line adopted by Chirac.
"I hope these rallies will help us deal it the fatal blow,"
he said of the First Job Contract (CPE) giving firms the right
to lay off under-26s any time in a two-year period.
'Virtual prime minister'
CPE backers say it will free up the labour market by
allowing employers to bypass French laws which make it hard to
lay off workers once on their books - often cited by firms as a
disincentive for taking on staff.
One placard depicting Villepin as an angel read: "In memory
of a virtual prime minister", while many wore stickers stating:
"One solution: revolution against global capitalism".
The mood was festive and police kept a low profile.
Unions said 700 000 marched in Paris, the same as last week, while some 250 000 took part in the southern city of Marseille, maintaining turnout there. Figures in the southwest city of Bordeaux rose to 120 000 from 100 000 last week, unions said.
Police estimates were a third of those figures.
Disruption was less than a week ago. Around a third of
flights were cancelled and others delayed, but unions said 80% of trains were running across the country with city underground networks largely unaffected.
Chirac has urged a softening of parts of the legislation,
for example halving the trial period to a year, and his
conservatives signalled further possible climb-downs.
"We'll be ready as of tomorrow to receive the unions ...
There won't be any limits to the talks," said Bernard Accoyer,
parliamentary chief of Chirac's conservatives.
But unions have vowed to resist overtures for talks unless
the conservatives pledge to scrap the CPE and start anew on ways
to tackle chronic youth joblessness stuck at 22%.
Chirac's declaration on Friday that he would sign the CPE
bill even as he called for amendments, was seen as a bid to
stave off the possibility Villepin would resign.
But the move could weaken Villepin and boost the hand of
Sarkozy, the chief of Chirac's UMP party who will now have a
major role in any amendments and negotiations.
Sarkozy, who heads a rival faction to Chirac and Villepin
within France's right, makes no secret of his hope to be the
main conservative candidate for president in polls next year.