French labour laws trigger immense protests

[The Mad Monk]

Hey, even I wouldn't call France an insignificant country.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Dauphin
I for one will lay down and do nothing for our new Lazy Frog Overlords.

Funniest post of a very long thread. Thanks.

[Dinner]

Well, one thing is certain. France's economy is very sick and perpetuating the status quo will not fix it. I do think France is like Britain was in the 1970's and it needs someone to be a Thatcher though I hope not as reckless and carefree as she was.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

France is getting ripped in the editorials here. Everyone and their brother is taking shots at them.

[Fake Boris]

Oh nooooo!

[DanS]

Originally posted by ajbera
As I said earlier, where's a reckless drunk driver when you need one?

Be careful what you wish for, folks!

Driver rams into protesters in Paris

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/07/news/paris.php

[DanS]

Oh and Chirac is such a pussy.

[DinoDoc]

Incensed students immediately seized upon the car

Why were they mad? Were they not the one's having a picnic in the middle of the road?

[Spiffor]

From the BBC:

France to scrap youth job law
French President Jacques Chirac has announced that the new youth employment law that sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests will be scrapped.

He said it would be replaced by other measures to tackle youth unemployment.

Millions of students and union members have taken to the streets over the last month in protest against the law, which made it easier to fire young workers.

Unions and students hailed the news as "a great victory" with one student leader saying the law was now "dead".

The law, known as the First Employment Contract or CPE, introduced a new work contract for under-26s.


FIRST JOB CONTRACT
Contrat Premiere Embauche (CPE): A new work contract for under-26s allowing a two-year trial period
In that period, employers can end a contract without explanation
After two years, the CPE reverts to a standard full-time contract
Became law on 2 April

It was to allow a two-year trial period, during which employers could end a contract without explanation.

The plan to replace the law was announced after a meeting between the president, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and other senior ministers on Monday.

'Dramatic situation'

Speaking in a live television address, Mr de Villepin said the president had accepted his proposed changes.

The new measures, which aim to help the most disadvantaged young people find jobs, would be presented to the various sectors concerned during Monday, he said.

The prime minister said he was convinced that the only way of addressing joblessness in France was a better balance between flexibility for employers and security for employees.

"For some time the action of the government had been guided by one objective, to provide thousands of young people from our society with opportunities for jobs," he said.

"I wanted to act very quickly because the dramatic situation and the despair of a number of young people warranted it.

"This was not understood by everyone, I'm sorry to say," said Mr de Villepin, who saw his poll ratings decline during the two-month crisis.

His goal now, he said, was to work for the future of the country, adding that he hoped all French people would work together.

Union leaders had given the government until Easter weekend to withdraw the law or face a repeat of the recent general strikes.

The deputy leader of the country's second biggest trade union, the CGT, welcomed the announcement.

Victory

Maryse Dumas told the French news agency, AFP, that the withdrawal of the CPE was due to the "success of the joint action of workers and students, as well as union unity".

Victor Vidilles from the National Union of Students told the BBC that it was a great victory for the movement they had had for the last two months.

"But now the biggest things to be done are ahead of us. We need to discuss with our government because the rates of unemployment for young people will stay the same."

Another student leader Julie Coudry told France's LCI Television that in her view the law was finished.

"The players in the crisis have difficulty pronouncing the words repeal. The CPE is dead...and I think they must have the courage finally to say it clearly."

There are some things the article doesn't mention, which I'd like to add.

- The CPE is going to be replaced by new forms of subsidised jobs. The State will subsidise private employers who employ impoverished young people. The notion of employement at-will disappears from the law. The proposed changes as to how an employer can fire an employee, are scrapped.

- The CPE was established by the article 8 of a full-package law. Only the article 8 is going to be replaced. The other elements of the law (such as allowing work at 14, night-shifts at 15, removing financial aid to parents having delinquant children and the like) will remain. As a result, it is false to say that we have scored a complete victory.

- The government had created a precarious contract similar to the CPE last year, which only applies to small businesses, but regardless of the employee's age (CNE). The CNE isn't scrapped.

All in all, it is good that the CPE has been removed, since it will considerably hamper the government's project to turn France into an at-will state. However, there's still much work to be done for this victory to turn into something actually progressive.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

une grande déception pour la liberté, pour les jeunes, pour l'économie, et pour l'intellectualité. une grande victoire pour ceux qui jouent sur les emotions.

at least the trains will run on time now.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
une grande déception pour la liberté, pour les jeunes, pour l'économie, et pour l'intellectualité. une grande victoire pour ceux qui jouent sur les emotions.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

you cannot honestly think that france is on the right track??

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
you cannot honestly think that france is on the right track??

Indeed, France isn't on the right track yet. The victory over the CPE will just stall our fall into hellholeness for a while.

However, the victory is going to give serious political resources to the leftists, and it will help fueling the apparition of a real alternative on the political scene, not the choice between mismanagement and good management of capitalism (ie Sarkozy's party vs Ségolène's party).

[Lawrence of Arabia]

there is no logic behind the french labor system. why must it be two tiered? why must lazy workers be protected and young ambitious ones be kept out? why are the best workers be prevented from moving up (that would mean firing the lazy boss)? why are the most disadvantaged youth not given a chance to get hired (why would employers hire them when they cannot fire them anymore)? Why is making a profit or being highly productive frowned upon in france? how can you defend a system that has give you 20% youth unemployment, un taux de chômage des jeunes supérieur à 50% dans les banlieues, and stagnating economic growth, as a good system?

its dishonest. you can believe whatever you want, but those who continue to say that this is the right way forward, its dishonest. its putting an ideology above what the facts have shown. its not admitting that its not working. its burying your heads in the sand, like george bush, and pretending that the problem doesnt exist.

its a nation that aspires to mediocrity, a nation where special interests hold even more power than in america, a nation who's alternative to the 'atlantic neo liberalism' has produced nothing but un grand malaise.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

dis moi, les communistes ont-ils une stratégie globale pour réduire le taux de chômage, pour assainir les finances fédérales, et pour doper l'économie?

parceque jusqu'a présent, vous avez eu que des échecs qui ont menés la france jusqu'ici.