The Troubles - French Style

First there were the November riots, which resulted in nearly 10,000 cars torched, hundreds of businesses damaged or destroyed, hundreds of casualties, and thousands of arrests.

The French government vowed to deal with what they perceived was the underlying problem - the lack of job opportunities for people under age 26. The high unemployment rate - 23% - needed to be addressed.

So, the French government proposed making changes to the employment law by giving employers the right to fire workers and made numerous other changes to the employment law giving new flexibility to fire people, which would also provide incentives to hire people.

Mr. Chirac formally enacted the legislation today giving employers the right to fire workers 25 and younger and sought at the same time to defuse a political crisis by calling on lawmakers to soften two of the law's most contested provisions. He urged that the probation period for young workers be reduced to one year from two years and that employers provide justification for layoffs.

But critics of the law appeared more determined than ever to bring it down, with or without modifications.

"The declarations by the president will boost the mobilization" on Tuesday, said Jean-Claude Mailly, leader of the labor union Force Ouvrière.

"I have made a list of all strike notices. It will be a big day."

Like last Tuesday, when strikes were organized in much of the country and hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets of Paris alone, public transportation is expected to be significantly affected on Tuesday.

Both the national rail company, the SNCF, and the Paris transportation system, the RATP, predicted disruptions, while walkouts also were planned by employees at Air France.

And how do the French respond to the proposal? They take to the streets. They demonstrate.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's objective was to cut youth unemployment, which is about double France's national rate of 10 percent, and to show that the government had swung into action after rioting last autumn by unemployed immigrant youths.

But the young concluded that Villepin was doing something to them, not for them. By giving private employers the right to fire workers under 26 without cause within two years of being hired, the government effectively denied younger workers labor protections that are deeply entrenched for their elders.

That helps explain why gray-bearded academics and other seniorish citizens rushed to the streets to join Villepin's political foes and union leaders in showing support for the students. How could they, in good conscience, do otherwise?

Alas, it isn't just the unions, student groups, and academics who took to the streets. Some hooligans and thugs took the advantage to riot.

And riot they did.

And the French have had to endure transportation hubs shut down, schools shuttered, and all manner of business curtailed. Instead of helping the economy, the demonstrators have succeeded in shutting everything down.