France: No breakthrough in job law talks

Union leaders failed in talks today to force France’s prime minister to withdraw a divisive new jobs law and said they would go ahead with plans for a nationwide strike next week.

“We are facing a total refusal,” said Francois Chereque, secretary general of the CFDT union, after the 75-minute meeting with Dominique de Villepin at his prime ministerial office.

The lack of a breakthrough left France facing the prospect of widespread transport disruptions in next Tuesday’s strike and the possibility of a protracted face-off over the law, which makes it easier for companies to hire - and fire – young workers.

Villepin described today’s meeting as “a first step” and said he hoped for more talks next week.

But it remained unclear how he would extricate himself from the crisis and calm the nationwide swell of student protests that has led to blockades at dozens of universities and violent clashes with police.

The impasse over the jobs measure has exposed France’s deep divisions about the direction of reform, between those who argue that such new approaches are needed to free up the economy and others who insist that change must not come at the expense of the country’s cherished social protections.

Youths have been at the forefront of opposition to the law, backed by France’s powerful labour unions and parties on the left who sense an opportunity to deeply wound President Jacques Chirac’s governing conservatives ahead of next year’s presidential and legislative elections.

Villepin’s meeting with five leading unions – their first since he introduced the “first job contract” in January – got off to a combative start, with union leaders riled by Chirac’s declaration earlier in the day that the jobs law must be applied.

The only apparent concession from Villepin was an invitation for student leaders to meet with him tomorrow.

Although he said that “everyone is aware of the importance of the current crisis,” the gap between him and labour leaders still appeared unbridgeable.

“We were here today to tell him: ’If you want the situation to calm down, if you want real negotiations to open, you must understand that you must withdraw”’ the job contract, said Jean-Claude Mailly of the Workers Force union.

“He talked to us about the possibilities of making changes, improvements, and we told him that that was not what we are asking for.”

But the government and unions also run the risk that violence at demonstrations against the law could spin out of control, increasing pressure on both sides to seek a solution or at least not appear intransigent.

Yesterday, rioters mixed in with demonstrators turned the park in front of Napoleon’s tomb into a battlefield.

Youths with baseball bats attacked student protesters and others hurled concrete chunks at riot police, who responded with baton charges and tear gas.

Nationwide, police made 630 arrests, and 90 police officers were injured, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said.

In all, there have been 1,420 arrests and 453 officers injured since clashes first broke out on March 11, he added.

Paris’ Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, described the situation as “explosive”.

“The government’s obstinacy is creating an extremely dangerous situation that is sinking into further violence and further danger,” he said on Europe 1 radio.

“The main government actors should take this seriously, beyond their political calculations.”

But Chirac said the jobs contract law must be applied and rejected pressure for its withdrawal, saying: “I am not a fan of a democracy of ultimatums.”

Backtracking could wreck the reform agenda of Villepin, thought to be Chirac’s preferred successor, and his chances of mounting a serious presidential challenge.

Union demands that Villepin toss out the jobs contract have left little obvious room for negotiation.

The law is aimed at reducing high youth unemployment by giving employers more flexibility and encouraging them to hire.

It allows companies to fire young workers in the first two years of employment without giving a reason.

Villepin has said he is ready to discuss modifying its most criticised aspects.