Emboldened by success, French students continue demonstrations

FRENCH students staged a fresh day of wildcat protests yesterday, vowing to keep up the pressure on the government and calling for further concessions despite the scrapping of a contested jobs contract.

Unions and student groups were celebrating victory after President Jacques Chirac bowed to two months of strikes and street protests by dropping the plan, but said they would remain “vigilant” until a substitute law is voted in.

Dozens of students blocked bus depots in Toulouse, briefly invaded the runways at Nantes airport, and blocked roads in Rouen, while 600 people marched in Marseille.