See letter to the Editor of the Financial Times published today:
Dear Sir,See article:
What is going on in France right now with students in the streets is that the haves are fighting to keep their privileges in the name of the have nots, those they say they are trying to protect (“French poor and students keen not to be 'Kleenex generation'” FT March 17, 2006).
The best young candidates for jobs, those from the best schools, with the best academic results, from the best families and, of course, those from the grandes ecoles will see no change in their situation with the Villepin law. They will continue to have employers bidding for their services and their terms and conditions will not change.
This law is aimed at helping the less educated, the poor and the underprivileged, who are the ones that are to be found on those very long youth unemployment lines. This law provides three important benefits to those that need it.
First, it will provide youth with experience of companies and industries which will help them in choosing and trying for new careers.
Second, it will give youth the experience of what it is to be in the job market, its disciplines, its norms, how to work with others, collaborations, disciplines that will serve them well wherever they end up.
Third, it will provide confidence that they are able to enter this world and that there is a space for them, as they begin to understand how it works.
All these values and experiences will be of important use to youth who today see no hope of ever getting on the first rung of the job ladder, making their next attempts at securing a regular position that much more successful.
Let us hope that the French government forgets about 1968 and about the forthcoming election and holds strong. It does not look likely.
Onésimo Alvarez-Moro
French poor and students keen not to be 'Kleenex generation'
France's prime minister is facing a crisis of confidence as criticism of his labour market reforms spreads from increasingly violent student protesters to immigrant youth in poor riot-hit suburbs, undermining his claims to be helping the most disadvantaged.
Dominique de Villepin appealed for calm yesterday and said he was "open to dialogue" about his "first job contract", as thousands of high-school and university students clashed with police in violence reminiscent of student demonstrations in May 1968. Police in Paris fired tear gas to disperse protesters, who threw stones, set fire to a newspaper kiosk and smashed car windows.
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