CNN.com - French�PM in bid to deflect strike - Mar 20, 2006

CNN.com - French�PM in bid to deflect strike - Mar 20, 2006: "PARIS, France -- French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is meeting employers and students to defend new youth job laws amid massive protests and the threat of a general strike.

After weekend protests that organizers said saw 1.5 million people take to the streets around the country, union leaders set a deadline of Monday evening for the government to withdraw or suspend the First Job Contract (CPE) law.

De Villepin has refused to back down over the law, which allows employers to dismiss workers under the age of 26 without a reason during a two-year trial period. He says it will help cut youth unemployment of 23 percent, more than twice the national rate."