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France's Constitutional Council approved Thursday the controversial First Employment Contract (CPE)job law, despite three weeks of protests.

The final decision to officially sign it into law or to withdraw it is to be made by French President Jacques Chirac on Friday.

Chirac was expected to make a public declaration over the CPE law, which would, according to the French government, make it easier for employers to hire younger workers.

But opponents argued that the open-ended contract for under 26-year-old workers, which can be terminated without explanation in a two-year trial period, was a breach of the hard-won labor rights and would make it more difficult than ever for young people to find long-term jobs.

France's five major trade unions rejected Tuesday French prime minister's invitation for dialogue on Wednesday and have called for another day of national strike next Tuesday to protest the law.

Bruno Julliard, head of the main student union behind the protests, said it was now up to Chirac "to respond to the expectations of a large majority of the population and to force the government to withdraw."

Bernard Thibault, head of the CGT, France's largest union, said that if Chirac promulgated the law, it would "torpedo all possibility of discussions" and "aggravate the crisis."

Three weeks of escalating strikes and demonstrations reached a high Tuesday when between one million and three million people marched in streets across the country.

Public transport, schools, post offices and banks have all been disturbed by the strike, and no newspapers were delivered. According to the unions, some 5 million public servants and private employees were mobilized in the national strike on Tuesday.

More than 200 trouble-makers were arrested Tuesday in Paris and more than 387 arrests were made across the country after violent incidents in cities including Rennes and Grenoble.

The strikes have also led to serious disturbances in 60 of the country's 84 universities and some 25 percent of the country's 4,370 high schools till Tuesday, according to the French Education Ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2006)