PARIS, March 26: French students vowed on Sunday to step up their protests against a new youth work contract after mass marches and a general strike planned for Tuesday if the government does not withdraw the law. “Without a withdrawal of the law, there can be no question of possible negotiations,” said Xavier Pascal, a student leader among 500 delegates from more than 80 universities and other educational institutions who met in Aix-en-Provence in southeastern France to coordinate their actions.

In a joint statement, the students said they planned to block train stations and main roads on March 30 and called on the government to resign.

“The government’s deafness does not weaken our determination,” they said after two months of protests which have led to sporadic riots and rising fears the demonstrations could be hijacked by hooligans.

France risks chaos on Tuesday as students, schoolchildren and their parents march in many cities, while the trade unions have called for a general strike which is expected to disrupt public transport with many trains and flights cancelled and only one in two Paris metro trains expected to run.

Several universities and schools are occupied by students while hundreds of riot police have sealed off the Sorbonne and Academie de France buildings in central Paris after evicting students with tear gas two weeks ago. Steel barricades are still blocking the road between the two institutions.

The Archbishop of Paris, Andre Vingt-Trois, said in a speech to students starting out on a pilgrimage that he understood young people were looking for security but this was difficult.

“Honestly, I do not believe that anybody can guarantee you this security, no more than guarantee that you will have a standard of living comparable to your parents,” he said.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin met “moderate” student organisations on Saturday in talks that were boycotted by the main groups behind the protests. After the meeting, Villepin said he wanted to find a solution.

The constitutional court still needs to approve the law.

The row over the CPE (First Job Contract), which allows employers to fire people under 26 without giving a reason during a two-year trial period, is one of the biggest crises in Villepin’s 10-month administration.

The government wants to make France’s rigid labour laws more flexible in a bid to boost economic growth and cut unemployment in a country with a jobless rate of 9.6 per cent and 23 per cent among young people.

But many French people reject an erosion of what they call their social rights and are willing to defend that in public protests that are part of the country’s tradition going back to the revolution of 1789 that created the first republic.

“Of course, on Tuesday we will be mobilised to continue this formidable social revolt against the CPE and bring alternative proposals,” Communist party leader Marie-George Buffet said in a speech at a congress of her party at Le Bourget, near Paris.

While the debate on the CPE and other unease with government policies will be brought onto the streets on Tuesday, unless there is a last-minute U-turn, the unrest also serves as a backdrop to a power play over the presidential election in 2007.

Villepin, an aristocratic career diplomat who never fought an election, is generally seen as wanting to succeed Jacques Chirac, the man he assisted as top-aide for many years.

—Reuters