For the last three weeks, there has been a group of good looking young fellas--policemen-- on rue des Ecoles, just standing around at the barricade near cinéma Le Champo looking like bored extras on a movie set. Last night as I walked by, they were butting each other with their shields. If this were a romantic comedy, I would have tripped over a fallen helmet and wound up with a phone number (if it were a really modern romantic comedy, I suppose the men wouldn't have needed me in the picture at all). As it was, I passed on by in my ipod bubble. Ah well.
I'm all for the policemen and their relaxed buffoonery if it means my neighbors cars aren’t being burned. Although some of us are getting a bit weary of their presence. Last night I asked Jeanne what she thought of the CPE (pronounced “say pay yuh”) manifestations and she shrugged her shoulders like a yiddish grandmother and said, “What’s there to tell?” As if on cue another siren wailed down the rue Saint Jacques and she said, “You can tell your blog we’re living in an occupied state!” Jeanne's bed is just by the noisy window.
About ten days ago, the same night Arté showed Irma la Douce, which, incidentally, have you seen it? It is a lovely little Billy Wilder film set in Paris. Full of stereotypes, but so good! Jack Lemmon plays a French cop! So on whatever night that was, I ran out to the grocery store because I remembered I was out of milk. I would have to hustle to get to Monop' before they closed their doors at 9:50 pm. There were cops and barricades blocking several portions of my route, and by the time I broke through to clear sidewalk, I was literally jogging out of relief.
That’s when I passed a nicely dressed man who clucked his tongue and said to his companion, “Il y a une qui va courir maintenant.” He thought I was a protester, which made me feel simultaneously important, but then also like I’d been unfairly profiled (It’s my Chuck Taylors, isn’t it? ISN’T IT?) As I approached Mabillon (I had prudently stopped jogging at this point), there was a shift in the atmosphere and, all of the sudden, there were all these cops coming towards me on the sidewalk. Big plastic shields in front of them, sirens from their nearby bus blaring, the whole bit. I got so scared I sort of half put my arms up, I know that sounds ridiculous and it felt ridiculous even at the moment, but I didn’t want to be teargassed. Turns out, SURPRISE!, they were after another individual.
So that is more or less the extent of my experience with the protests. Illuminating! I know.
That’s where you all come in. I’d love to know your thoughts. Anyone out there who can make me sympathize with the anti-CPE? Because from where I’m sitting, it sounds like they’re protesting a fraternity for running out of free beer. What to make of people who would create a banner, like students at a school in Avignon, reading, "Don't send us police. Nurture us instead."
Nurture us!
I don’t think that the government should be expected to do that.
But then again, you can't just tell a person what to believe. Even if this is the better solution for the country as a whole, I guess getting public opinion to shift is only going to happen if de Villepin and other leaders can spin this to show what’s in it for the individual.
How I wish people would respond to this message.
I'm struggling to understand the whole thing, too. I'm bringing a group of high schoolers from MN to France next week and have been trying to detangle the whole mess of ideas so I can explain it to them. Not so much luck this far!
Posted by: Michele | 28 March 2006 at 09:38 PM
I am a college French teacher and I have no clue how to relate this story in terms they will understand. I keep reading, and one day I understand the students, the next I understand the government.
But when it comes down to it, France's employment laws are so archaic, it is time for a change.
Posted by: paristriptips | 28 March 2006 at 10:24 PM
M Sarkozy seems to be the guy.
I'm with you on the protests - you've nailed it exactly. It doesn't apply to anyone over the age of 26, n'est-ce pas?
Posted by: R J Keefe | 28 March 2006 at 10:24 PM
Ok. So I will try this in point form in an effort to make it a little easier on my brain.
- the current gov wants to reduce youth unemployment.
- so they pass this weird law in an obscure fashion (my understanding is that it wasn't upfront; correct me if i'm wrong)
- a law that, basically, allows you to recycle employees below the age of 26
- without the necessity of actually explaining why they're being given the boot
- and on a quick recycle basis such as this, they are then not provided the "nurture" (don't like the word, but whatever) to grow in a given field
- but i think this law is counterintuitive. just because it allows you to recycle people at will, it doesn't mean you'll aleviate the unemployment issue.
I think that the government should have revised the current crap laws. But not so severely. Since this law was passed in part because of the emlpoyers saying they weren't "hiring" because they couldn't fire people quickly enough...it doesn't cut it with me and I think it's a band aid solution re the current state of affairs in France.
Unemployment has to be addressed in a diffrent manner, and a better equipped commentator who knows a thing or two about economics will be able to provide a better response to this particular portion.
I am a protestor because I believe in the power of protest WHEN it is backed up by more means (e.g. political action / lobbying / articles / documentaries; I also have a political blog and was doing political analysis re Mid East issues for quite some time). I think that dissent is the only thing which brings about change, but dissent does not begin or end with protest. Protest is only one of many vehicles anyone that is politically active uses :)
interesting piece!
m
Posted by: maha | 28 March 2006 at 11:06 PM
Hello la Coquette! I am French, and a student. I am 25, so I'm not exactly concerned by this CPE act. But it's not just about people under 26, it's about not giving up our famous "acquis sociaux". I know it sounds quite corny seen from overseas, for everyone see the French as people always protesting and not working a lot. But just because it's worse somewhere else, should it be worse here too??? True that we have a tradition of protesting, but it's not always just for the fun of it. In this precise case, it actually is a climb down they're offering us. We all know well that if this act is voted, then there's no way back. This "fight" is more of a symbol for all the things that have been done these past years that nobody wanted but the government just ignored us, social movement after social movement (is this proper???). That's why this time it's gotten that big. I live in 200 000 inhabitants city, and today 50 000 were on the streets... Not just students or "fonctionnaires", but parents and grand-parents who feel concerned too, low-class, middle-class... I am an anti-CPE, and I hate it too see cops everywhere on the streets too, stores and cars being burned... But those are the collateral damages, you can't escape that, can you?
As for Sarkozy, I'm convinced France wouldn't be there if it wasn't for him (meaning AGAINST him). I hope I'm understandable enough, I haven't practiced my English in a while (fac en grêve...)
Posted by: The Natural Born blonde | 28 March 2006 at 11:09 PM
I was almost your first commenter, thank God I didn't post what I was going to say about French demo's...so I'll keep it p.c and say stay safe, wear the Lanvins instead next time you go out! C x
Posted by: Claire | 28 March 2006 at 11:27 PM
i know i shouldn't be surprised, but since this hubbub has been going on, my students have been on strike too. my HIGH SCHOOL students. i suppose teenagers elsewhere technically have this right as well, but i don't remember this happening in recent memory. i suppose they have to start practicing the national passtime sometime, but i think it's just a kicking excuse for 15 year olds to cut class.
Posted by: cara | 29 March 2006 at 01:23 AM
I'm with Claire- swap the Chuck Taylors for the Lanvins next time you go out, and there will be no danger of being dragged off by the police!
re: the protest issue- I'm embarassed to say that I don't know enough about the issues to have an opinion.
Posted by: eurobrat | 29 March 2006 at 01:28 AM
I wrote about this on my blog the other day. I say *ugh - grow up* destroying and rioting is so criminal. Protests are valuable, but from what I know of this issue, I believe the protests are ridiculous.
If I were head of a company and told if i hired a new grad, but could never fire them, I would not hire them in the first place. I have worked with new grads and some were terrible! It costs so much money to seek new hires, interview and train, that companies don't want a 2-year revolving door on new grad employees. That would be absurd. If you are a good employee, you do not have to worry about losing your job. Good empluyees are an invaluable asset. Bad employees can be a detriment to a company! Good employees are hard to come by!
Posted by: Sara | 29 March 2006 at 01:35 AM
I'm all for the right to protest if you feel your government isn't listening to you or when you feel they're doing it wrong. And it does sounds like Villepin sort of railroaded this law through in a kind of sneaky, albeit entirely legal, way.
France is known for its "entitlement mentality" when it comes to social services (of course, they pay taxes through the nose so I can understand wanting value for the money). But to expect the country to stay competitive in the global economy, and yet still offer lifetime job security whether you deserve it or not, is utterly ridiculous. They can't have it both ways... but they're sure trying to.
Posted by: The Bold Soul | 29 March 2006 at 02:04 AM
I've been yammering about it on my blog for the last two weeks, and now I'm officially bored. I do think it's hard for anyone non-French to really sympathise with the protestors, but, having been burned for speaking my mind on it often enough, I leave you to your thoughts.
As for being pro-Sarko, that person is crazy. Sarko has bad hair and small hands.
Btw, you need to update your link to my blog.
Posted by: nardac | 29 March 2006 at 02:42 AM
"If I were head of a company and told if i hired a new grad, but could never fire them, I would not hire them in the first place."
BRAVO!
Posted by: A | 29 March 2006 at 02:43 AM
These French have a firm belief in their birthrights. Its their birthright to have freebies from cradle to grave. In a survey held recently, an overwhelming majority of youths wanted to work in the civil service. Why? Cushy life of shuffling papers, 35 hour work week, 5 weeks vacation. You don't get SACKED EVER!!!!
So much for birthright. If I were the government, I would pay the airfares & hotel accomodation & Send the representatives of these student & trade unions to 3rd world countries instead and let them have a one month internship in what the youth in those 3rd world countries are doing to eke out a living compared to what they have. I can guarantee you it would be a very humbling thought!!
Posted by: lane | 29 March 2006 at 03:43 AM
Forgive me if I sound politically incorrect, but reading between the lines, I do believe the law is intended to protect employers when they're hiring "youths" (the same youths who burned cars, threw rocks at policemen, etc. during the recent riots) from certain areas of Paris that aren't so posh. From what I understand, France is moving toward instilling affirmative action type quotas,right?
It's much harder to scream racism at an employer, when you get canned, if there's already a law on the books that states you can be let go without an explaination.
Posted by: meghan | 29 March 2006 at 04:40 AM
I'm in the United States and watch cable French news. The riots..?can't say I really have an opinion one way or another. One post further up says it would mainly put a damper on the employment 'rights' of those 26 years old or younger. Maybe for 26 and younger it would be ok for firm work rules, but if it's for 26 and *older* I say protest the hell out of it. Once you have a home (mortgage) and children, how can you have any security if you could be fired at any time? But again, only if it would affect all workers can I understand this kind of protest.
A word on Sarkozy. In a country famous for married men to have a mistress, multiple women in their lives, I am of the opinion that this man can't keep his wife (and former Ms. S) in tow, how in the blue blazes of hell does he plan on keeping a country together? He seems to be a little big man, and scary as hell because in some way he has begun to remind me of a pint-sized......................................................................GEORGE BUSH! Trust me here, you don't want that. Talk about bad economic slowdown, job loss and higher fuel prices.
Anyhoo....that's my two cents.
Posted by: Liz | 29 March 2006 at 05:52 AM
I FEEL
SO
FRUSTRATED
SEEING MY BELOVED NEIGHBOURHOOD ENGULFED IN THE CPE UPHEAVAL and being here, millions of miles away. Powerless. For once that something else than Fashionistas and arrogant artists happens in the 6ème arrondissement...
Posted by: Sened | 29 March 2006 at 06:50 AM
I've been touching on it quite a lot on my site lately (not to do a commercial, but more because I'm too lazy to go into the big speil here currently).
Today, I will trying to officially vote classes back in session at the official school balloted vote. The one that the blockading types have decided they won't be acknowledging (scared much?). Four weeks of missed class will be mighty fun to make up this summer, believe me!
Posted by: kim | 29 March 2006 at 09:32 AM
It just takes the most basic of economics to show that if you reduce the cost of hiring someone to a company, the company will be more likely to hire more people. The CPE law is pro-employment.
It also makes it more desirable for companies to hire "risky" job candidates, e.g. people from the banlieues who may have had less training or education than other applicants.
It's a class issue. If you go to the Sorbonne or a Grand Ecole and were pretty likely to get a job anyway, the CPE is not in your interests. If you are from the banlieue or any other impoverished area where unemployment is a major concern, you should be for the CPE. I have more sympathy for the second group, the underprivileged kids.
Revolt to preserve the status quo - what kind of student demonstrations is that?
Posted by: mmf! | 29 March 2006 at 09:52 AM
This may be stating the obvious, but I haven't seen any negotiating points from the anti-CPE group. I know that there's leftist string pulling against the gov, etc. but what happens when CPE is retracted? Back to internships for a living? i'm new to paris and looking for a job and would LOVE a TWO YEAR PROBATION PERIOD! At the end of two years, the employee will (hopefully) have made himself indisposable...Anyone know if there are any reasonable negotiation points?
Posted by: phil | 29 March 2006 at 10:32 AM
I really do not understand the logic of the protestors. They are fighting to preserve a status quo that does not function. They are trying to keep communist-style job security in a global market. This will only hurt France and will not help anyone get hired.
As for the dismissal provision of the CPE: WHY would an employer fire someone who is good just because he or she turns 26? It costs just as much to pay them their salary before or after age 26. No, the CPE would just allow employers to fire incompetent people without having to go through the very pro-employee employment court. A good employee has nothing to worry about. The truth is, people slack off in France because they can. I personally know of a case where a guy completely screwed up his whole department, but when they fired him they still had to pay him 200,000 euros. And of another where a woman basically didn't show up for 50% of the time, and it took them two years to fire her.(And you can see my blog about the zookeeper in Germany, which has similar rules, who couldn't be fired even after barbecuing and eating seven of his rare animals.)
The problem is that you can't fire incompetent employees in France at any age. They're so expensive to pay and so expensive to fire that taking a chance on an unknown quantity (i.e. jeunes from the suburbs) is not worth it to many employers. That's why with all the unemployment and crying need for more workers in restaurants and service businesses, employers won't hire.
Posted by: Sedulia | 29 March 2006 at 10:38 AM
there's just one point that I think deserves to be made : there are no riots in France right now!!!Out of approximately 2 000 000 protesters yesterday for instance, 700 have been arrested for being violent. It's bad, but it is not representative of what is going on! Of course, it's what shows the most, but it really is a minority of people!
@Liz> the problem with the CPE being for 26yera-olds and younger is exactly that these people will not be able to get a mortgage or rent a flat with this type of contract. Even right now, I have examples of 30-somethings working in Bercy (Ministère de l'Intérieur) and having to ask their parents to bail them out so that they can rent a flat in Paris because real estate is so rare owners can almost ask for anything...
Posted by: The Natural Born blonde | 29 March 2006 at 11:00 AM
For me, the biggest problems are that there's a set age and that the "trial period" is at 2 years. There's so much information floating around and so many points of view that I find it hard to figure out what to think. As an American living in Lyon working with American study-abroad students I have this bizarre view on the whole thing. The kids are mad that they haven't been able to go to class for 2 weeks now. I understand why people are protesting, but completely blocking the university doesn't seem to be the best solution to me. As my friends say, shit yo. I'm writing this from an almost deserted Lyon 2, which is really strange and ghost-town esque.
Posted by: gina louise | 29 March 2006 at 11:31 AM
Nobody has actually read this law. Natural blonde - there is a clause in the CPE that allows access to special grants and loans. They weren't that heartless.
The CPE also says that employers can let you go without suffering financial penalty. This is why there will be more flexibility in the job market.
It's obvious, from these comments, that your readers are American.
Posted by: nardac | 29 March 2006 at 12:24 PM
I find it interesting that nowhere is there mention of the discrimination involved in the CPE. I mean, hey, coloured people are probably just as difficult to employ as the young, so let's put them under different laws too...
Posted by: Kimberley / Sierra | 29 March 2006 at 12:37 PM
Nardac, thank you so much for clarifying the finer points. We're all here because we want to understand.
As for American readers, you're probably right. A little over 60% of the people who read this blog are from Cananda and the United States.
But you know what? My father's french friends are saying things like, "I should have moved to the US like you" They think the CPE protesting is ridiculous.
The link to your blog has been fixed. I'm sorry about that.
Posted by: Coquette | 29 March 2006 at 12:54 PM
One of the main economic responses to the CPE is that it simply won't work!
France's GDP is in decline. If a company is doing well and expanding, they HAVE to hire new people no matter how hard it would be to fire them. When things are bad, regardless of how easy it is to hire someone new for the position, it's still unnecessary if you have no need for them.
The CPE isn't going to create new jobs for the youth. What it is likely to do is to create less stability in the jobs that would be offered in the first place. If used properly you have no reason to worry if you are doing a good job but, historically, many groups are exploited in the name of profit. A lot of entry level jobs could be done in a "revolving door" fashion without affecting productivity, making it tempting to employers wanting to avoid paying out additional benefits.
Posted by: ashleigh | 29 March 2006 at 02:08 PM
Forgive my lack of english : I'm French, I live in the North of France, land of precarité.
To sum up the situation, I'll start with this : let me see what is happening around me now.
There are people protesting : who is protesting ? Students, that's a fact. But fonctionnaires as well, who have the "stable employment" and are not concerned by this, high school students and "collégiens" who are not concerned by this, and also the "casseurs", who only waited for that to come and mess it all up.
This is the situation.
Now let me sum up our daily life. My boyfriend is a physio therapist. It is considered as a "ooh, well paid job !", as if in France it is really really bad to earn money. Even if he works for this.
He pays taxes, ooooh yes, he does pay taxes. But...what for ???
- taxes go the protestants : did you know the gov gave les syndicats 2 millions euros last year as subventions ? And what happens in these protestations ? Students are messing it all up like they did 2 weeks ago in La Sorbonne. Cost : 1 million euro of dégâts. Paid by...taxes, of course.
- taxes go to refund the "National Debt". I'm proud of my country.
- taxes go to these guys who get the "acquis sociaux", you know who ? These who prefer staying at home than going to work because they earn a lot more with these aids than with a salary (up to 3000 euros). They are very very famous round here, I'd say it's the half of Roubaix's population. And not only immigrants, also real french people, who speak comme cha. These who don't even pay taxes, because they benefit from the acquis sociaux and aren't IMPOSABLES...
Now what about me among all this ? I'm 24, and I just came out of the school. Of course, I'm a beginner, so no job for me. I don't fear seaching for a job, but even before I started that, I was depressed by the rules of that : writing a letter, sending a cv...That's such a loss of time, when all you want is to prove you're good in the job you're applying for !
Hence I created my job. I'm a freelance graphic designer.
But anyway I would be glad to be hired with a CPE ! Even if it's 2 year revolving period of time, I would by the way get an experience, this experience that is so much asked for when you apply for a job.
I tell you what : French are horribly frightened, and most of all the younggest : they fear they won't get the same niveau de vie their parents did when they did the May '68 Revolution. So they are protesting, not only against the CPE, but because they want the gov to bring them what they don't want to work for... So they want a CDI right away after the studies are over, and they want a great salaire, and they want the gov to pay for what they don't want to, and the guys of the banlieues want to be integrated to our society, and so much more.... And above all, they fear their company will move in délocalisation, they fear to be fired because they will have to search for a new job.
What is hidden to the mass, is the opinion of these who are head of a small company. If the CPE exists, as the CNE already does, it will allow to recruit a guy where it wasn't planned for, because it is freed of administration form. How will youth unemployment reduce otherwise ? But they also fear : fear not to be able to do the chiffre d'affaire that will make them able to refund the credits they did to start the company, or pay the taxes, or satisfy the french emmployees not to go on strike.
La France est passive. Vive la France. You're so right when you say French people don't get excited.
I dont pay taxes yet, because it's my first year. I will, oooooh yes I will. But when I see where it goes to, I don't even want to pay. So maybe sooner or later, I'll move to belgium, because my taxes will be lowered. And I don't like to think like that, because when I see Americans that are patriotics, and myself thinking about fleeing France to save nearly half of what I should pay...
We need a turn-over. Don't you think ?
By the way, your blog is graphic, it's great to see that on the web. J'en parlerai....
Posted by: crebindiou | 29 March 2006 at 02:39 PM
@nardac>Of course, they have agreements with the banks and stuff... supposedly... We can already see how students loans are working... France is not as familiar with credit as England or the USA, and frankly, I wish it'd stayed that way... and of course, a CPE is better than no job at all, that's the government point. But is it really a good one? CPEs won't add to other types of contracts, it will just replace them. Ad it is discriminatory.
@crebindiou> you see things your way, and in my opinion it is quite restrictive. Of course some people take advantage of the system we have, but then again I wouldn't say it's the majority. generalities won't take us anywhere...
Posted by: The Natural Born Blonde | 29 March 2006 at 02:53 PM
Pace your dad's friends, Coquette, I've found that none of my French friends, who are all hitting forty - too old to be affected by the CPE whilst their kids are way too young - support the CPE. It's not that they're particularly left-wing or anything, it is just that they see things differently here. Those who grew up post Thatcher or Reagan just don't understand, and it might be appropriate to cease and desist a little on the judging. It doesn't wash to denigrate the population of an entire country for being stupid and wrong because they don't want to live like you do. They are neither stupid or wrong. As a matter of fact they think you (actually we) are.
Posted by: Natasha | 29 March 2006 at 04:34 PM
How come you had to go all the way to Mabillon to get milk?
Posted by: Stu "El Inglés" Harris | 29 March 2006 at 05:25 PM
Natasha -- I don't think Coquette is trying to denigrate an entire people...
She's just stating an opinion, which is entirely her right to own and yell out as loud as she wants, whether or not you and I agree with it.
And...it's cool that she opened up the forum for discussion re this issue.
meghan -- re this comment: " (the same youths who burned cars, threw rocks at policemen, etc. during the recent riots)". Don't let the actions of a few rule the entire show. It's not fair for you to do that...and throws you in to the whole 'sensatinalist' group (a group known for its critical thinking, when they believe the world to be black and white, good and bad. ME GOOD, YOU BAD!).
phil -- I agree with your sentiment. Unfortunately, this is something that happens much too often in protest >> you find that the protestors focus on diminishing the opposition / deconstructing what they're protesting, but not offering a viable 'otherwise' option. Historicall, this has always been the case with protest and something which many organisations are trying to shift away from, and move to: (1) I protest this; but, (2) I offer you this alternative as food for thought.
Excellent point, anyway.
ashleigh / natural born blonde / kimberley -- I like what you wrote. It's spirited & makes sense! Perks up the Canadian revolutionary in me (but only if I can wear my pink heels!).
& to whoever said that we can't have an opinion because we're not living in France. WHATEVER, DUDE! That kind of standpoint epistemology doesn't fly anymore.
:)
m
Posted by: maha | 29 March 2006 at 07:20 PM
sorry! re 'sensationalists', I mean:
(a group **NOT** known for its critical thinking, when they believe the world to be black and white, good and bad. ME GOOD, YOU BAD!).
I forgot the NOT part!
m
Posted by: maha | 29 March 2006 at 07:21 PM
Maha, you know what I'm going to say....
Routed to your blog (which is great by the way) from your comments here I read the following sentence:
"Worse still is that (brace yourself) none of these panelists have been to the Occupied Territories. And so – a bit of standpoint epistemology here – who are they to speak or judge or communicate any ideas about Palestinians?"
Don't worry, I think I get the self-aware irony in your comment where you made exactly the opposite point ('to whoever said that we can't have an opinion because we're not living in France. WHATEVER, DUDE! That kind of standpoint epistemology doesn't fly anymore.') But actually I kind of do think that if you don't know France pretty well (and I don't mean the kind of knowing France that comes from long weekends in Paris, or romantic summers in Provence, I mean knowing France because you live here and you know French people and you've invested a lot of yourself in trying to understand the place) you haven't got a hope of understanding what's going on at the moment. That's all I meant in my comment anyway.
Posted by: Natasha | 29 March 2006 at 08:59 PM
LOL! Oh my god, I think I have a crush on you, Natasha. How can I not love a woman who uses my own words against me? (Bravo! If ever there is a debate, I'd like you to be on my team).
I just reread that post (the one on my blog) and wow was I pissed when I wrote that!
Man >> that was posted in August of last year...blogs are dangerous. Perhaps I should generate a footnote to that entry and post something like "DUDE! STANDPOINT EPISTIMOLOGY DOESN'T FLY ANYMORE (Maha circa 29 March 2006).
Am going to go peek around your blog; you've got my curiosity peeked as you're obviosly some kind of smartie pants & I like those.
cheers (& puis touché, Mlle.),
m :)
Posted by: maha | 29 March 2006 at 09:44 PM
In my opinion, Ashleigh has it right, along with Maha's outline. And I take issue with Natasha's you just can't understand it comment on principle.
I am a Spanish-American living just around the corner from you (and saying hello daily to the riot police too :) working in town for an international organisation (and before that I worked attache aux cabinet du ministre des affaires etrangeres- can we say fonctionnaire :) And one who did graduate research on this exact subject (Social Policy!)Ah l'amour pour Sciences Po qui reste en moi! And I can tell you there are a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions out there.
Nardac has some points (oh yes I have too read the law!) but the system already provides CDD contracts (limited duration contract) that would function in the same manner without the discrimination and the inherent instability this forces on youth. This is not a pro-employment law and it is discriminatory to the youth. All of whom I believe are at a minimum entitled to be informed WHY they are being fired. That is a bare minimum of mutual respect.
Furthermore, being able to fire someone doesn't necessarily equate or for that matter correlate to more people being hired. The largest issue for hiring is PAYING for the people they hire. The social costs which this law does not address are still going to be at the same rate! Thus employment is still under prohibatory pressures, and the social costs are much more significant when looking at whether people choose to CREATE a job- much more than the question of if they can fire them which only comes into the equation when hiring. And the difference between creating a job and hiring for a job is an important one!
I dont want to get into finger pointing or a lot of polisci/econ geek talk (cause I am one and do that enough on a daily basis) but I think it is important one not to generalise what a handful of people do that is outside the protests as the protests. Which is easy to do when that is all that is shown on the news. Nor should we be generalising about what the state provides and people who "live" off it. In flat numbers the US pays the same amount as France for the services rendered. It is a matter of where it is paid NOT the amount paid. In the US you pay to the market (and I would argue with questionable and varying quality of service for that money paid- with the social strata implications that are inherent) in France you pay to the government (and if nothing else there is a base level of provision that is mostly adequate). It is a fundamental issue and the French state has been based on dirigiste concepts arguably since Napoleon, but most easily since the end of WWII and the 4th and 5th Republic. This is not to argue that the system does not need reform. I am not of that opinion. However this reform will not accomplish much.
I also think it is important to recognise that this is about politics (positioning for the presidential election next year) MUCH more than it is about ANYTHING else. And lastly... de Villepin did pass this law quite fishily and that is just not the norm here, so at a least there should be a public debate on the issue.
Posted by: stinkerbell | 29 March 2006 at 10:06 PM
hi stinkerbell --
a couple of questions for clarity, please...
(1) How do you think passing this law will create a stage for positioning next year's elections? I've heard this argument before but no one has fleshed it out and I'd like to learn about it...
&
(2) de Villepin passed the law in the middle of the night or something, right? A very unusual move in France -- I think someone above coined it "birth entitlement" >> the right to be aware and discuss and be a part of the process, rather than below it...
interesting points you made.
bye!
m
Posted by: maha | 29 March 2006 at 10:15 PM
I think the solution is that French mothers need to breastfeed more...
Posted by: A | 29 March 2006 at 11:49 PM
Actually, maha, sometimes things are black and white, good and bad.
Not everything is grey.
Posted by: meghan | 29 March 2006 at 11:55 PM
Stinkerbell - I don't agree in principle with what I said either, to be honest. It's just that I can't help thinking it's true...I haven't lived here for that long but it dawned on me a while ago that the British and the French are literally hardwired differently. I've lived with a French man for 13 years now, and I thought I understood a bit about the cultural differences between us, but in fact coming to live here I discovered that there was much that I didn't really understand about France at all, and that it was only by living on the coalface, as it were, that I could even begin to make inroads into my ignorance.
I am by the way fairly bewildered by what's going on. But what I said when I first commented stands - I don't think we should be so quick to take a superior position on these protests. I detect a lot of mockery, both here and in the international media ('What to make of people who would create a banner, like students at a school in Avignon, reading, "Don't send us police. Nurture us instead."'). But perhaps we should be prepared to ask ourselves if we're missing something - there is a HUGE majority of French opinion who opposes this contract.
And for those who think Sarko might be the answer to France's problems - be careful what you wish for. If the declinologists (all Sarko's mates, by the way) are right, then the next 15 years are going to make what's going on today look like the proverbial picnic in the park. You at least, if you're American or British, can always leave the country when the going gets really tough.
Posted by: Natasha | 30 March 2006 at 12:12 AM
You can't have your cake and eat it too. That's all I have to say (just thought I'd make that clear).
Posted by: Maddox | 30 March 2006 at 02:04 AM
stinkerbell, I've been trying to wrap my brain about what's been going on. Not having the econ/poli sci background, a lot of these things are usually lost on me. Your comments have enlightened me, I'd say.
Though my understaning of what's been going on is still unclear, it was good to read your post because it cut through one of the many thick layers of fog of misunderstanding I'm having.
Posted by: Sara | 30 March 2006 at 03:44 AM
stinkerbell, I've been trying to wrap my brain about what's been going on. Not having the econ/poli sci background, a lot of these things are usually lost on me. Your comments have enlightened me, I'd say.
Though my understaning of what's been going on is still unclear, it was good to read your post because it cut through one of the many thick layers of fog of misunderstanding I'm having.
Posted by: Sara | 30 March 2006 at 04:01 AM
Yeah. Those silly French. Why don't they want to work a sixty-hour week, with absolutely no job security, like us Americans do? And their cheap and affordable health care? Sounds, I don't know, real weird.
Posted by: Kevin_M | 30 March 2006 at 03:28 PM
it is really good to have you bachk here , you know ???
Posted by: King negrito | 30 March 2006 at 05:02 PM
Wow, these are fantastic comments.
Natasha, you detect mockery on my part. I’d like to hope I was “wearing my heart on my sleeve” more than mocking when I exclaimed “Nurture us!” The students attitude toward their government does shock me upon first instinct, of course it does. But I’m intrinsically fascinated by how the two cultures are hardwired differently, so I’m not prepared to leave it upon my first instinct.
I went out to dinner with a group of American tourists last night. I took the role of anti-CPE. I say that only to demonstrate that I’m really open to the possibility that my gut is wrong.
Remember when so many people thought America entering Iraq was a good idea? Maybe some day we will come to a consensus that the CPE was a good idea, but so many people were opposed because of bad associations with the way it was presented?
Posted by: Coquette | 30 March 2006 at 07:10 PM
"Yeah. Those silly French. Why don't they want to work a sixty-hour week, with absolutely no job security, like us Americans do? And their cheap and affordable health care? Sounds, I don't know, real weird."
I'm only being political for a few notes..If you vote these type of people in..this is what you are going to get..this is their philosophy of commerce and government. Even Canada has voted in a "conservative" government and they are out to destroy their social programs starting with health care.
Posted by: Alexandre | 30 March 2006 at 07:17 PM
I didn't mean you, Coquette! But that NY Times article you got the quote from from was pretty mocking. You must admit that the foreign press, the English language press anyway, is just loving this, practically sneering at the French for being economically illiterate! I found myself in that camp for the first few weeks of this, and lately I've really changed my tune. There is a really thought-provoking column in today's Herald Tribune -http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/29/news/edpfaff.php - that explores this idea a million times better than I can. Pfaff's conclusion is more probing than most commentators have been: "It seems to me that this European unrest signals a serious gap in political and corporate understanding of the human consequences of a capitalist model that considers labor a commodity and extends price competition for that commodity to the entire world.
In the longer term, there may be more serious political implications in this than even France's politicized students suspect. What seems the reactionary or even Luddite position might prove prophetic."
Instinctively I think that Pfaff's paradigm is one that we're going to be increasingly up against as the century progresses. I grew up under Thatcher, and I remember that we used to have room for these kinds of debates in the UK, but I realised that it's been a long time since you've heard anything like this on the other side of La Manche. And you know what? I think it can only be a good thing to talk this kind of thing over, between friends, on blogs, and between citizens and their elected (mostly, of course that idiot Villepin has never been) representatives.
Posted by: Natasha | 30 March 2006 at 07:24 PM
Having missed the last 4 weeks of school and facing an indefinite closure because the anti-CPE protests have rendered the school campus unsafe (students physically and verbally threatened if they wish to enter university buildings, etc...) and students have voted in the general assemblies to continue blocking the entrances, I am fed up with the CPE.
My American liberalism laughs in the face of these students protesting against a contract which will allow employers to fire them at will for the first two years of their contract - there is nothing shocking about precarity in employment in the US-- but the lawyer in me is outraged for these students (helas, I am too old to be employed under a CPE contract, so I am not outraged at the thought of my own grim future) who will be forced to bear the brunt of France's right wing labor liberalization while their elders have significantly more job security. The playing field is uneven, and the fear is that after 2 years of hard work, these young people will in fact become expendable, labor commodities, to be tossed out at the end of the day with the trash. Granted, most employers would not want to invest 2 years of time and money into training someone to turn around and fire them, but in jobs requiring little training, the firm has little incentive to keep someone past the 2 year window.
Posted by: Stefanie | 30 March 2006 at 07:37 PM
Lovely post, funny and well written. I'll be back x
Posted by: fjl | 30 March 2006 at 08:16 PM
I don't know about France, but in (seriously) small-town America, the police have a way of making themselves disliked just by being the kind of idiots that pull you over for having a smudge of mud on your license plate (or having a bumper sticker they don't like) while someone is being strangled in the ditch on the other side of the road. God help us...
Posted by: Cheeky Kitten | 30 March 2006 at 09:20 PM