French students wake up - back to 68???

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4795648.stm
<snip>
French riot police have grappled with protesters at the Sorbonne in Paris in unrest over a new labour law, making it easier to sack young employees.

Police stormed the university early on Saturday to drive out at least 150 people, mainly students, some of whom had been inside for three days.

They used tear gas and batons to clear the main building in under 10 minutes, correspondents report.

At least two people were injured and some arrests were made.

About 40 of France's 84 universities saw student occupations to varying degrees on Friday in protest at the new law, according to French news agency AFP.

This, as far as I know, doesn't exhibit those hallmarks, but this is rather early in the stage to pass judgment, and if the authorities continue to rub sand in the wounds, they'll risk re-awakening the sentiments that led to the '68 Uprising, but from reading this new law, my gut reaction is this:

Sarkozy needs to get his ass kicked out of power. It's hard enough as it is to transition from school to the work force without this law making them essentially cannon fodder in the labor market. People are pretty much cannon fodder anyway in the labor market, but this is turning it into a turkey shoot for younger workers.

"The most barbarous fact in all christendom is the labor market. The mere term sufficiently expresses the animalism of commercial civilization." -- Eugene V. Debs

but it's good to see young people protesting. Hope it spreads - there are so many issues that should make them rise up and be heard.

The law is really unjust.

the news showed that the majority of the students doesn't want that kind of confrontation

the elements in the Sorbonne were probably outsiders or/and elements sent by the CGT (union) or the trotskyites to create trouble... the procedure is not new...

All this is a political show organized by the leftists student unions.

the vast majority of the students isn't touched by the law. When they'll finish their studies, they'll have a job on a classic contract because the lack of qualified people will be enormous due to all baby-boomers going to pension...

the guys touched by the law are the low educated suburban immigrant descendants which make the bulk of the unemployed youth. On the other hand those don't give a rat's ass about the law, they just want a job...

even if the law if stupidely formulated regarding the motives for firing, when I see those in average well-educated middle-class job-guaranteed students chanting about "precarity" I just want to....

:puke:

every time somebody try the to make a reform in France, some corporatist (meaning self-intrested) elements on the left try to sabotage it. Can be difficult to understand for progressive Americans, but it's a fact.

the guys touched by the law are the low educated suburban immigrant descendants which make the bulk of the unemployed youth. On the other hand those don't give a rat's ass about the law, they just want a job...

Won't this just piss off the same people who rioted several months ago because of issues of police brutality and unemployment because nobody wants to hire black people?

the law provides some "psychological" comfort for the majority of the French employers, who want kind of a reassurement that firing somebody won't lead to economical losses. In reality all this is bullshit, because the consequences are not very different from actual legislation.

The fact that so many are unemployed in the category 18-26 don't have very much to do with racism, it's another myth.

The reasons are :

Employers are very afraid to hire somebody because they fear that it will be a major loss if they have to fire the person. It is true that they would have paid indemnities under current legislation, but for that type of small enterprise they are minimal. Employers live with myths and the current government tried to appease their fears.

A lot of the guys in the category mentioned above have very difficult to find a job because in many cases they CANNOT handle a job (coming in time, respecting internal regulations etc...) or even don't have the minimal qualifications. In the area where they live many of the employers have the same color of skin. Racism isn't the basic issue (to be fair it can be said that the colored MALE EDUCATED minority can have that problem in a more white environment).

Plenty of French employers are desperately trying to recruit into fields that are not "popular" like construction.
The result is that the jobs are taken by people from the Eastern countries. Poles, Hungarians etc... are taking those jobs because they have the skills and find far better money and conditions that would have at home...

On the other hand coining a contract allowing to fire WITHOUT REASON (the two first years) goes again the the very basic sense of equity in the average French. It was doomed from the beginning. The right thing to do was to keep the actual legislation but remove all economical constraints on the employer for the two first years. You can ALWAYS find a motive and in most cases employers don't fire without a motive.

All this is mass psychology. I have discussed this with intelligent people of progressive sensibility : they see afuture where the employer throws you out at mercy. When I explain to them that it is already the case in the big enterprises (they pay the fines) they start to talk about something else. It's a bit like the bird flu : "we are doomed, we are always doomed".