French Government holds firm on job law despite ultimatum

PARIS - The French government showed no sign of bowing to an ultimatum set by union leaders to withdraw a new job law by late Monday or face a possible general strike this week and further mass demonstrations.

Buoyed by protests at the weekend that organisers said brought 1.5 million people onto the streets nationwide, union leaders set a Monday evening deadline for the government to withdraw or suspend the First Job Contract (CPE) law.

But Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was set to go on the offensive on Monday, meeting employers at 10 a.m. and students and unemployed youth at 3 p.m. to discuss the importance of creating jobs for young people.

"I rule out any withdrawal of the CPE, which must be given a chance to work," he said in an interview with the monthly magazine Citato.

The meetings were part of a strategy to convince key sectors that the law would substantially reduce youth unemployment, which stands at around 20 per cent, double the national average, and runs as high as 50 per cent in some poor suburbs.

Villepin has repeatedly said that once people understand the law, which allows employers to fire people under 26 without giving a reason during a two-year trial period, they will support it as a job creation measure.

"There was a lack of understanding over the method, which I regret," Villepin said in an apparent reference to the way the law was presented, and he called for dialogue to enrich the CPE.

Student groups and union leaders say the CPE would create a generation of disposable workers without job security and union leaders were due to meet late on Monday to decide on their next move, with March 23 cited as one possible date for a strike.

An opinion poll by BVA piled fresh pressure on the government, showing 60 per cent of French voters want the law to be withdrawn.

The poll, to be published in Monday's Depeche du Midi newspaper, also showed that 63 per cent of those questioned doubted that Villepin would back down.

Another poll, to be published in Monday's Liberation newspaper, showed that 38 per cent want the law modified while 35 per cent want it withdrawn. Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said that poll showed the importance of further discussion.

"The prime minister is moving into an extremely delicate period ... now that the street has spoken," said a signed editorial in Monday's La Croix newspaper.

Villepin held talks about the crisis on Sunday with Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, according to LCI television.

Both men are likely to run in elections in 2007 when President Jacques Chirac is expected to step down. Segolene Royal is cited as one possible candidate of the Socialist Party.

Villepin wanted to prove his credentials to the right wing of his UMP party by standing firm on the CPE law but was likely to pay a high political price, in part because of the perception that the protests have helped the Socialist Party, analyst Christophe Barbier told Reuters.

- REUTERS