FRANCE: French prime minister Dominique de Villepin and French unions failed to break the deadlock over a youth labour law yesterday at a first meeting called to discuss a crisis that has triggered mass protests and sporadic riots.
Mr de Villepin said the 90 minutes of talks were "an important first step" and hoped for more discussions in the coming days but made it clear he would not heed the call of hundreds of thousands of protesters to dump the CPE First Job Contract.
President Jacques Chirac, who has prodded his prime minister to renew dialogue with unions, said Mr de Villepin was ready to take account of protesters' concerns but condemned rioting by youths which marred demonstrations in Paris and some provincial cities.
Mr de Villepin said: "This meeting with the trade unions was important. It was a first step.
"Together, we have to succeed in finding constructive solutions to respond to young people's real worries, especially on the CPE."
Disappointed union chiefs, who have called a one-day national strike for Tuesday, said they failed to get Mr de Villepin to scrap the CPE, which allows employers to fire people under 26 without stating a reason.
"We tried to persuade him, one after another, of the scale of the crisis, and that there was no other possible response but to withdraw it," Bernard Thibault of the leading CGT union said.
Union leaders said no further meetings with the government were yet planned. Mr de Villepin said he hoped the parties would meet again next week.
The prime minister has championed the contract as a bold solution to youth unemployment of 23 per cent. Opponents say it will create a generation of young "Kleenex workers" who can be discarded by employers on a whim at any time during a two-year trial period.
On Thursday rampaging youths torched cars, looted shops and robbed student demonstrators in Paris and major provincial cities. - (Reuters)