4 April set for more anti-CPE Protest in France

Below is the official announcement for a new round of protests against the draconian CPE legislation in France.

Expand the Mobilization on 4 April, A New Day of Mobilization
Declaration of the Unions of College Students,
High School Students, and Workers

The success of work stoppages and strikes and the power of the demonstrations of 28 March, their unity and intergenerational character as well as the movement's duration and magnitude in high schools and universities, prove to be a historic mobilization, to demand the withdrawal of the CPE and the opening of negotiations.

It is urgent that the highest authorities of the State take the measure of the situation and meet this demand without ambiguity. To prevent the country from descending into a major crisis, the government must make up its mind. The inter-union leadership demands that the President of the Republic use his constitutional prerogatives to withdraw the CPE.

The unions reiterate the demand that the government lift the burden of the CPE by withdrawing it and, from there on, engage in immediate negotiations on employment, social insecurity, the terms of access to jobs, education, and the future of young people.

They call on workers, college students, and high school students, as of today and throughout the week, to emphasize dynamic unity, multiplying the initiatives to express their demand for the withdrawal of the CPE. They invite them to, among other things, pressure all the members of Parliament.

The unions are determined to expand the mobilization. They warned the government against any attempt to strong-arm, especially targeting college and high school students. They have already decided on a new day of inter-professional action, work stoppages, strikes, and demonstrations on 4 April.

Paris, 29 March 2006
DECLARATION OF THE UNIONS Of COLLEGE STUDENTS, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, AND WORKERS

UNEF, CÉ, UNL, FIDL, CFDT, CFE CGC, CFTC, CGT, FO, FSU, Solidaires, UNSA