French controversial First Employment Contract (CPE) was
published Sunday in the Official Journal although French President
Jacques Chirac has said to replace it by a modified version.
French trade unions and student organizations rejected a
compromise offered by Chirac and called for another round of
national strikes and demonstrations for Tuesday.
Chirac said in a nationwide-televised address on Friday night
that he would revised the law with two key modifications: reducing
the trial period from two years to one and requiring employers to
give explanation in case of a firing.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said in an interview
with the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, which is
published on Sunday, that he was misunderstood and made errors in
his management of the law.
"There is misunderstanding and incomprehension about the
direction of my action. I profoundly regret it," he said.
The CPE law is aimed at reducing a high youth unemployment rate,
which reaches as much as 23 percent among youths and up to 50
percent in some poor, heavily immigrant areas.
But opponents said it will erode hard-won labor rights and make
it more difficult for youths to find long-term jobs and criticized
that maneuver as "surrealistic" and "undemocratic".
(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2006)
