PARIS, March 20: French trade unions and student organisations called on Monday for a one-day general strike on March 28 to pressure the conservative government to withdraw a new youth employment law they say undermines French labour law.

“All the unions are calling to make March 28 a day of demonstrations, strikes and work stoppages,” said Rene Valadon, confederal secretary of the Force Ouvriere union.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has rejected suggestions to withdraw the law and offered to hold talks with his critics on ways to improve it. Over half a million people demonstrated on Saturday against the law, which makes it easier for employers to fire workers under 26 years of age.

On Monday President Jacques Chirac expressed support for his prime minister in the confrontation, urging unions and students to enter constructive talks on the measure rather than threaten strikes.

A member of the Sud-PTT union was critically ill and in a coma on Monday after being injured in clashes with police that followed Saturday’s march through Paris, the union said, in an announcement likely to inflame supporters of the CPE protests.

Mr Chirac said the CPE showed the government’s willingness to fight youth unemployment, which stands at 23 per cent in France, more than twice the national rate. —Reuters