PARIS, March 31: In a long-awaited television address, French President Jacques Chirac said on Friday he would sign into law a controversial youth jobs contract, but promised to modify its provisions.
The president said he had decided to promulgate the law because it had been duly voted through parliament and also because he ‘believed the First Employment Contract (CPE) can be an effective tool for employment’.
Unions and student groups which have led weeks of protest, sometimes violent, against the CPE rejected Mr Chirac’s call for dialogue and said they would pursue plans for another day of strikes and demonstrations next week. —AFP
