Hundreds of thousands of students marched through French cities today in new protests aimed at killing off a youth hire-and-fire law as rail workers and teachers staged one-day sympathy strikes.
CGT union chief Bernard Thibault
France's ruling conservatives stopped short of agreeing to scrap the law but, faced with sliding poll ratings and internal rifts over how to deal with two months of sometimes violent protests, they signalled possible concessions to trade unions.
"I hope the demonstrations will help us deal it the fatal blow," said CGT union chief Bernard Thibault of the First Job Contract (CPE), which gives firms the right to summarily lay off workers under 26 during a two-year period.
Early counts around the country suggested turnout on the marches could reach that of a week ago, when between one and three million took part in one of the biggest days of protest seen in France's 48-year-old Fifth Republic.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told a rowdy parliament the government would not "throw in the towel".
But the long-time Mr Chirac ally risked being sidelined as Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy - his main rival to lead the right in 2007 presidential elections - emerged as a possible broker to end the conflict.
French students demonstrate against the CPE First Job Contract in the centre of Lyon today. Hundreds of thousands of students marched through French cities on Tuesday in new protests aimed at killing off a youth hire-and-fire law as rail workers and teachers staged one-day sympathy strikes. REUTERS/Robert Pratta
One placard depicting Mr de Villepin as an angel read: 'In Memory of a Virtual Prime Minister', while many wore stickers stating: 'One solution: revolution against global capitalism'.
The mood at the front was festive and police were keeping a low-profile, mainly watching in side streets off the main route.
More than a quarter of a million demonstrators earlier marched through the southern city of Marseille, organisers said, while up to 75,000 joined a rally in the western city of Nantes, both higher turnouts than on March 28th.
But disruption from the strikes was less than a week ago, and rail unions said 80 per cent of trains were running across the country with city underground networks largely unaffected.
Air traffic was hit, with authorities estimating around a third of flights had been cancelled and others delayed.
Ryanair said it has cancelled all its flights to France from Ireland today as a result of the strikes.
The airline apologised for the inconvenience and said customers booked on any of today's flights can rebook free for charge onto flights up to the 12th April and also from 25th to the 30th April.
Agencies