White Riot!

[TonyMontana1638]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe....ap/index.html

Paris police arrest 156 protesters; unleash water cannons, tear gas


Police attacked protesters with a water cannon Saturday on a square facing the Sorbonne University.

PARIS, France (AP) -- Police loosed water cannons and tear gas on rioting students and activists rampaged through a McDonald's and attacked store fronts in the capital Saturday as demonstrations against a plan to relax job protections spread in a widening arc across France.

The protests, which drew some 500,000 people in cities across the country, were the biggest show yet of escalating anger that is testing the strength of the conservative government before elections next year.

In Paris, seven officers and 17 protesters were injured during two melees at the close of the march, at the Place de la Nation in eastern Paris and the Sorbonne University. Police said they arrested 156 people in the French capital. (Watch protesters rush police during a Paris demonstration -- 1:53)

Four cars were set afire, police said, and a McDonald's restaurant was attacked along with store fronts at the close of the march.

Tensions escalated later Saturday as about 500 youths moved on to the Sorbonne, trying to break through tall metal blockades erected after police stormed the Paris landmark a week ago to dislodge occupying students. The university has become a symbol of the protest.

Police turned water cannons on the protesters at the Sorbonne and were seen throwing youths to the ground, hitting them and dragging them into vans.
'Police everywhere, justice nowhere'

"Liberate the Sorbonne!" some protesters shouted. "Police everywhere, justice nowhere."

In an apparent effort to set fire to a police van serving as a blockade, protesters instead torched the entrance of a nearby Gap store, apparently by accident, engulfing the small porch in flames.

With commerce snarled in some cities, people asked whether Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin would stand firm on implementing the change that he says is needed to encourage hiring. The usually outspoken leader was silent Saturday.

Protest organizers urged President Jacques Chirac on Saturday to prevent the law from taking effect as expected in April.

The group issued an ultimatum, saying it expects an answer by Monday, when leaders will decide whether to continue protests that have paralyzed at least 16 universities and dominated political discourse for weeks.

"We give them two days to see if they understand the message we've sent," said Rene Jouan of the CFDT union.

Protests reached every corner of France, with organizers citing 160 marches from the small provincial town of Rochefort in the southwest to the major city of Lyon in the southeast.

In Marseille, extreme leftist youths climbed the facade of City Hall, replacing a French flag with a banner reading "Anticapitalism." Police used tear gas to disperse them and made several arrests.

Police also fired tear gas at a protest in Clermont-Ferrand, a central city where 10,000 people marched and about 100 youths threw beer cans and other projectiles at a building.

The Paris protest march was the biggest, attracting some 80,000 people, according to police. Organizers put the number at 300,000.

Some demonstrators became violent as the march ended. Youths set a car on fire, smashed a shop window, trashed a bus stop and threw stones, golf balls and other objects at police. Police responded with tear gas during skirmishes that lasted several hours.
'Aren't we the future of France?'

Widespread discontent with the government has crystalized around a new type of job contract that Villepin says will alleviate France's sky-high youth unemployment by getting companies to risk hiring young workers.

Critics say the contract abolishes labor protections crucial to the social fabric.

"Aren't we the future of France?" asked Aurelie Silan, a 20-year-old student who joined a river of protesters in Paris.

Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope insisted on the need for a "spirit of dialogue."
start quoteThe hand is extended, the door is open. end quote
-- government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope

"The hand is extended, the door is open," he said on France-3 TV network. However, he limited dialogue to "improving" Villepin's plan -- not withdrawing it.

Waves of red union flags topped the densely packed crowd in Paris, which overflowed into side streets and stretched more than 31/2 miles under bright sunshine.

"Throw away the job contract, don't throw away the youth!" chanted a group of students shaking tambourines. Many wore plastic bags to illustrate their feeling that the new law reduces young people to disposable workers.

The law would allow businesses to fire young workers in the first two years on a job without giving a reason, removing them from protections that restrict layoffs of regular employees.

Companies are often reluctant to add employees because it is hard to let them go if business conditions worsen. Students see a subtext in the new law: make it easier to hire and fire to help France compete in a globalizing world economy.

Youth joblessness stands at 23 percent nationwide, and 50 percent among impoverished young people. The lack of work was blamed in part for the riots that shook France's depressed suburbs during the fall.

Chirac has pushed Villepin to act "as quickly as possible" to defuse the crisis, but has backed the contested measure.

On Friday night, a group of university presidents met with Villepin and called on him to withdraw the jobs plan for six months to allow for debate.

Failure to resolve the crisis could sorely compromise Villepin, who is believed to be Chirac's choice as his party's candidate in next year's presidential election.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


Thoughts people? Especially those of you closer to the conflict than myself...

[dj_venom]

I find this really spooky. Over here in Australia, John Howard is trying yet again to be kicked out of office, by yet again, doing something no one wants. However, because the opposition suck, there is a majority in both houses. Anyway, as I was saying, they are trying to introduce labour reforms over here. Basically, it will reduce a lot of job protection, and sounds very similar to what is happening in France.

No one here has become violent about it however, just some strikes, protests, but all peaceful.

[Moonbiter]

I think this is great! One thing that can be said of the Parisians: they know how to throw a good demonstration. That's an artform that has been mostly forgotten in the rest of the lethargic, practically comatose western world.

[dj_venom]

Let's just hope it's not another French Revolution... they can be painful things.

[Chimaera182]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_venom Let's just hope it's not another French Revolution... they can be painful things.

Could be worse. Could be a Bolshevik Revolution... Anticapitalist banners, red union flags...

[TonyMontana1638]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chimaera182 Could be worse. Could be a Bolshevik Revolution... Anticapitalist banners, red union flags...

*nods* I'd take the Reign of Terror over Lenin/Stalin anyday, but it isn't easy to compare the two simply because the Bolshevik Revolution was a long string of riots, purges and overthrows that, depending on where you mark it's end, lasted for 20-or-so years. The French Revolution was more cut-and-dried in comparison, though horrifying in its own right (Robespierre and the like were just as crazy as Stalin). This is to say nothing about the different political and social philosophies involved in the two either...

[dj_venom]

Ahhh well, both of them failed .

Back to an Autocrat with one, and back to Capitalism for the other.

I was just talking about the French for obvious reasons... and yeah, it's hard to compare the two (and do so at your own peril, for there is a many a member here ready to debate it).

[Magrus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moonbiter I think this is great! One thing that can be said of the Parisians: they know how to throw a good demonstration. That's an artform that has been mostly forgotten in the rest of the lethargic, practically comatose western world.

*nods* I should invite those people over to show the Americans how it's done...

[Darzog]

Hey, we're not afraid to throw a little riot over here. But we only break out the big guns (figuratively) for really important things, like if our hockey teams win the Stanley Cup (or lose the Cup), or our team wins the Final Four (or loses the Final Four). Not for some lame political / human rights issues. Get some priorities people!

[TonyMontana1638]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darzog Hey, we're not afraid to throw a little riot over here. But we only break out the big guns (figuratively) for really important things, like if our hockey teams win the Stanley Cup (or lose the Cup), or our team wins the Final Four (or loses the Final Four). Not for some lame political / human rights issues. Get some priorities people!

Oh sure take some pot-shots at Detroit, seeing as Jimmy Kimmel's made it fashionable now...

[Darzog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyMontana1638 Oh sure take some pot-shots at Detroit, seeing as Jimmy Kimmel's made it fashionable now...

Hey, I'm an Av's fan so I've been taking pot-shots at Detroit for a long time now.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Howard's only just released the actual legislation involved over here (conveniently right during the Commonwealth Games), the clever little rat's got a good sense of timing. Basically, no unfair dismissal protections (none whatsoever for 'small businesses' under 100 employees, and larger firms may do so for 'technical' or 'efficiency' reasons), 'individual contracts' with no union bargaining allowed, reduced role for the IR Commision particularly regarding setting of minimum wages (to be handled by the ironically named 'Fair Pay Commision', which is explicitly ordered to ignore 'fairness' in deciding wages), no garanteed overtime or penalty rates, $12.50 minimum wage (averaged over a year), no sick leave, and if the unemployed or under-employed receive any offer of work, no matter how shoddy, if they refuse then their already unliveably minimal social security gets slashed by up to 80%. There's a lot more, but as I said, the public just haven't been allowed to see the several hundred pages of legislation so I don't yet know much besides it's ****ed. Crinimnal charges have been threatened against those who did post even draft copies on the 'net. Note that this only applies to corporations, so Howard's still got his nice, non-means-tested pension and perks.
EDIT-Oh yes, almost forgot, industrial strikes have become illegal without explicit approval from the Workplace Relations Minister, who may also strip any contract of any clause he doesn't like, such as say, job security garantees, which are also illegal as part of 'pattern bargaining'.
If any Parisians want to come to Oz and show us how it's done, or even just explain the values of trivial things like, say, job security, before Monday when the changes come into effect would be a great time...Please?

[dj_venom]

The timing wasn't planned as such.

The whole issue had been tried in the High Court by the State Governments, to see if it was un-Constitutional. The hearing had finished, proving that it was not un-Constitutional, therefore it has been given the go-ahead.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_venom The timing wasn't planned as such. The whole issue had been tried in the High Court by the State Governments, to see if it was un-Constitutional. The hearing had finished, proving that it was not un-Constitutional, therefore it has been given the go-ahead.

Sure it wasn't. And it was just coincidence that the Parliamentary debate was held during Melbourne Cup Day, too, right after the Sydney terrorist scare.
I'm pretty certain the High Court challenge hasn't been heard yet, btw, or at least not all of them. Could be wrong though. IIRC those things take years at least, and there are a few to go through.

[dj_venom]

Hehehe, but that's the thing, he has a majority in both houses... so it doesn't really matter.

And yeah, I wasn't sure it had gone through either, but I was sure they couldn't implement it without High Court approval. As you say, it can take ages, but then again, it's a State v. Federal case... I'm sure it has more merit than the average appeal.