France: National student protest held against government attack on young workers

The Contrat de première embauche legislation allows employers to fire workers under the age of 26 without cause during their first two years of employment. The government has argued that the reform is necessary to reduce France’s youth unemployment rate of 23 percent. In many of the country’s most deprived areas the rate is as high as 40-50 percent. In reality, however, the CPE is part of a raft of measures that are aimed at strengthening the international competitiveness of French capitalism by downgrading the social position of the working class. The CPE is only one of several pieces of recently drafted legislation attacking workers’ conditions.

Yesterday’s largest demonstration was held in Paris, where about 120,000 marched through the city centre. Riot police fired teargas at one section of the demonstration after a number of youth allegedly threw stones and tried to break through barricades. Other clashes were reported in the northern suburb of Raincy and at the Sorbonne University, where last Saturday police violently removed 300 protestors.

Police also fired tear gas yesterday at one hundred students in Rennes after they invaded the town hall and hung a banner outside which declared, “All France joined against the CPE.” Most demonstrations, held throughout France’s cities and regional centres, were peaceful. About 15,000 youth demonstrated in both Marseilles and Bordeaux, and large protests were also seen in Grenoble, Limoges, and Le Havre.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/fran-m17.shtml