Tens of thousands of students marched through Paris and other French cities on Tuesday, stepping up their opposition to a new law that makes it easier to hire -- and fire -- young workers.
In Paris, university and high school students, joined by teachers, workers, union members and Communist Party members, marched across town stopping traffic as they chanted slogans like "We're not cannon fodder" and "We're not young flesh for the boss." At one location near the Sorbonne in the heart of the Latin Quarter, the police clashed with small groups of protesters, dispersing them with tear gas.
More than half of France's 84 public universities remained either completely or partially closed on Tuesday because of student blockades, the Ministry of National Education said.
PHOTO: EPA
The Sorbonne, at the University of Paris, remained closed three days after riot police used tear gas to evacuate about 300 students. University authorities said the occupation had caused damages of between US$600,000 and US$1.2 million.
The protests are driven by two factors: domestic politics and the fear of change among France's middle and working class. This is not about promoting grand revolutionary ideals.
Designed by the government to help ease the crisis of high unemployment, particularly among disadvantaged young people in the suburbs, the law is seen by its opponents as a step toward eroding employment rights and benefits.
Opposition to the "first job contract" law, whose goal is to encourage firms to hire young people with little or no job experience, has confronted Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin with one of the most serious crises in his 10 months in office.
Under France's political system, de Villepin is the head of government and answerable to parliament. President Jacques Chirac, the head of state, is responsible for defense and foreign policy, and, whenever possible, tries to distance himself from domestic troubles. But he is expected to intervene when things get out of hand.
During a visit to Berlin on Tuesday, Chirac made his first public comments on the protests, telling reporters, "It goes without saying that I totally and unreservedly support the activities conducted by the prime minister and the French government."
De Villepin, whose approval rating has fallen to a record low of 36 percent in recent weeks, has become the target of opponents of the law. Even some members of his own UMP party have called on him to drop the hiring project.
He is widely expected to seek the presidency next year, but his candidacy could be crippled if the protests spin out of control and force the government to back down.
The students have the full support of both the parties of the left and the country's powerful unions, which contend that the law is unjust because it allows companies to fire workers under the age of 26 within the first two years of employment with little notice or severance.
Twenty-three percent of French citizens under the age of 26 are jobless; in some of the major city suburbs, which were wracked by riots lat last year, the figure is close to double that.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS