French President Jacques Chirac said today he would sign a controversial youth job law despite weeks of protest against it, but promised amendments that would weaken two of its most disputed reforms.
In a televised speech Chirac said the amendments would shorten to one year the period in which youths could be fired and require employers to give a reason for dismissing them. The initial draft had a two year period where employees could be fired and without the employer having to give a reason.
Universities across the country have been disrupted for weeks by protests over the First Employment Contract (CPE), which make it easier for employers to fire workers under 26.
Students, unions and left-wing political parties have staged a three-week campaign of strikes and demonstrations against the CPE, which attracted more than one million protesters on Tuesday, with another strike called for next Tuesday.
Opponents say it is a step back from France's hard-won system of social protection and a move toward what they see as the cut-throat labour policies that prevail in Britain and the United States.
Figures released yesterday showed the February unemployment was 9.6%, one of the highest rates in Europe. Joblessness among under 25-year-olds fell slightly from 22.8% to 22.2%.
