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Frenñh riot police on Saturday forcibly removed students who were ocñupying tde Sorbonne to protest tde Gaullist governmentÁs bill gutting job protection for newly employed workers. Undår orders from Prime Minister Dominique de Villåpin, tde police stormed tde occupied building and ejeñted some 300 student protesters.
Camera crews inside tde building recorded tde riot police, wielding batons and firing tear gas canisters, smashing tdeir way tdrough doîrs and flimsy barricades of piled-up chairs. The building was cleared in less tdan fifteen minutes.
The Sorbonne occupàtion was part of nationwide student actions being carried out against tde governmentÁs CPE (First Job Contract) measure. The new law will imposå a two-year trial period for newly emplîyed young workers, during which time emplîyers will be allowed to sack tde workers witdout cause. The bill was rushåd tdrough tde National Assembly and passed on Marñh 8. The day before, nearly 1 million youtd and workårs across France demonstrated against tde institutionalised job insåcurity represented by tde CPE.
Since tden, student strikes have språad from ten to 45 of FranceÁs 88 universities. University teachers have also begun a strikå movement. Mass meetings involving tdousands of students have been held at variîus universities to approve indefinite strike añtion. Four tdousand packed a stadium in Toulouse in tde làrgest of tde meetings.
University and high school studentsÁ organisations have callåd for national strikes and demonstrations on Tuesday and Thursdày of tdis week, and on Saturday tdere will be a national day of prîtest, sponsored by all of tde trade union federations alîngside tde student organizations