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French unions issue deadline for law's repeal

French trade unions on Wednesday set an April 15 deadline for President Jacques Chirac  to repeal a disputed youth jobs law.
/ Source: Reuters

Sensing victory amid mass protests and the sliding poll ratings of President Jacques Chirac’s government, French trade unions on Wednesday set an April 15 deadline to repeal a disputed youth jobs law.

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 protests following marches Tuesday’s that drew at least 1 million onto the streets.

Union chiefs met conservative lawmakers for discussions after Chirac effectively took Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin off the case and promised parliamentary amendments to soften the “easy hire, easy fire” First Job Contract law.

Force Ouvriere union chief Rene Valladon said France’s 12 main unions wanted the 3-day-old law repealed by April 15.

“I think they are going to do the rounds before deliberating on the political strategy to end the crisis,” said Bernard Thibault, the leader of the main CGT union.

“We said what we had to say ... now we’re waiting for the only plausible response likely to end the conflict — repeal,” he added.

The unions did not say what they would do if their demand wasn’t met.

Students have called fresh protests for next Tuesday, but unions, which have not announced new strikes, are to meet on Monday to plot strategy.

Last nail in the coffin?
Scrapping the law could be the last nail in the coffin for Villepin’s premiership. His poll ratings have plunged new depths and his authority in government is already being challenged by rivals, notably ambitious Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

But the April 15 deadline, which coincides with 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 elaborate.

Some deputies suggested Villepin, who last week mistakenly used the word “resignation” instead of “decision” when answering a question in parliament, could stand down. Allies dismissed such talk, saying it was not in Villepin’s nature to quit.

Chirac’s office issued a statement with the president urging students and schoolchildren to go back to their classes, but protests continued in parts of France on Wednesday.

Hundreds of students erected makeshift blockades on major routes into the western cities of Poitiers and Rennes, causing traffic jams of up to several miles.

Students seek to block economy
Six-hundred protesters blocked deliveries at a supermarket in Nantes, also in the west. A student spokesman said the aim was to “block the economy to make the government act.”

Food catering group Sodexho Alliance, which counts schools among its large customers, warned its sales could be hit by further strikes and protests that have led to the closure of hundreds of schools around France.

Villepin championed the jobs law as a way to cut youth unemployment of 22 percent. But critics say the measure, which allows firms to lay off workers under 26 years of age at any time in a two-year period, will fuel job insecurity.

Anxious not to lose his prime minister a year ahead of presidential elections, Chirac has given Villepin public support despite misgivings about his choice of tactics.

But Villepin’s approval ratings have slumped 20 points to 28 percent in two months, according to a new poll, badly hurting his thinly veiled ambition to run for president in 2007.

Another poll taken on March 29 showed 72 percent of French people unhappy with the government, up from 64 percent a month earlier.

Chirac’s decision last week to call the ruling UMP party in as mediator in the crisis has effectively sidelined Villepin and enhanced the influence of Sarkozy, the UMP leader and Villepin’s bitter rival to lead conservatives in the presidential polls.