The Guardian 15 March, 2006
French protests
against attack on young workers
Riot police have stormed the Sorbonne University in Paris, forcing out students who have been occupying the building since Wednesday in protest against government labour laws. The sit-in at the university took place as part of growing national protests against a youth employment plan that will make it easier for firms to sack workers aged younger than 26.
About 80 helmeted police officers rushed to the building early on Saturday to dislodge about 150 students who had holed up in a classroom and barricaded the doors with desks and chairs.
Police pushed through and the students moved to an inner courtyard under the dome of the university and, after a brief stand-off, left peacefully.
Three students were arrested.
Police had acted on a demand from the rector of the Paris Academy which runs universities there. Last Friday police officers, positioned in the square outside the university, had used teargas after coming under attack from students throwing fire extinguishers, chairs and books from windows.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy decided to return early from a trip to the French West Indies because of the demonstrations.
The government wants to give employers the "flexibility" so that when they hire young people they will know that they will be able to get rid of them when they please, in particular when they want to replace them with youths on lower rates of pay.
This would mean younger workers having less job security than older colleagues and would undermine workers’ employment protections.
"It’s about our future, and we are determined not to give up", said Elisa Penisson, a 21-year-old undergraduate at the Sorbonne.
In Tours, 200 kilometres southwest of Paris, several hundred students moved onto tracks at the railway station, stopping trains for three hours on Friday. Students picketed entrances at several of the country’s more than 80 universities.
The main students’ union said 45 colleges were affected.