French protesters block Airbus superjumbo convoy

Students protesting against France’s new youth labour law blocked a convoy carrying parts of an Airbus A380 superjumbo jet to a factory in south-western France today.

About 100 students sat down on the road in front of the convoy when it was about half a mile away from the assembly factory outside the city of Toulouse. The overnight protest was calm, and students were dispersed about two and a half hours after they arrived, police said.

Students and unions have been in a weeks-long stand-off with the conservative government over the law, which will make it easier for companies to hire and fire young workers.

Massive marches on Tuesday drew more than one million protesters for the second time in a week, and brought renewed violence. The turnout put unions in a position of strength as they headed into discussions with ruling-party politicians, which continued today.

France’s biggest trade unions yesterday set a 10-day deadline for the government to revoke the divisive jobs law or face more mayhem. Meanwhile, scattered protests continued. Demonstrators also blocked a road outside the western French city of Nantes today.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin championed the law to stem youth unemployment rates of 22%, and as high as 50% in some depressed, heavily immigrant suburbs hit by weeks of riots last year.

Critics say the law will hurt job security.