Natalie Ellender was studying in Lyon, France, when a group of protesters holding signs started walking toward her.
Ellender, Houma native, is one of about 10 students whose studies in France have been disrupted by youth and labor unions protesting – sometimes violently- a law signed by President Jacques Chirac on Sunday.
The “first-job law,” or C.P.E., would allow employers to fire workers under the age of 26 within the first two years of employment.
The government claims the law will promote jobs for youths, but youths fear it will raise the already-high unemployment rate.
“At the time, I did not know what the C.P.E. was, but all of a sudden, these students came marching down the street holding posters and chanting something,” Ellender said. “It was relatively peaceful, and there were police everywhere.”
But not every protest has been so calm.
Young rioters ripped up street signs, park benches and hurled stones and chunks of pavement at policemen in downtown Paris on Tuesday, according to Associated Press reports.
“Strikes occur frequently in France, but this one is different because young people – students – can get emotional and aggressive very easily and are very vigilant in their fight,” Ellender said.
Parisian police said they took 383 people into custody on Tuesday when an estimated 84,000 demonstrators marched through Paris.
Bernard Cerquiglini, director of the Center for French and Francophone Studies, said there is an unemployment problem among French citizens between 20 and 30 years old, and the current unemployment rate is about 10 percent.
Cerquiglini said students are protesting because, in France, there is a strong tradition of state assistance and job security.
Some said they think the government is attempting to take that security away from them.
“In this country, we think that unemployment is only an economic problem – but in France, it’s also cultural because of the importance of state and state assistance in France,” Cerquiglini said.
Ellender said she has remained inactive throughout the demonstrations, and “the main problem lies in their [French youth] mentality that the government owes them this job – and that’s why they have become hostile.”
“For us Americans, the thought of having this type of job security is unheard of,” Ellender said.
The self-proclaimed Francophile has been obsessed with France and French culture since she was little.
“Living in France has been my ultimate goal ever since I can remember,” Ellender said.
While she is enjoying her time in France, she said she is also concerned about her studies.
“Last week there was an assembly for the C.P.E. during my literature class and the students demanded -and succeeded- in having my teacher cancel class,” Ellender said. “It is a reversal of power here. It seems that the teachers and even the universities have no say in this matter.”
Ellender said her University has not had any problems, except some graffiti on the walls, but her roommate, a student from William and Mary, hasn’t been able to attend class for three weeks.
“The doors are physically blocked with chairs, and while some people might think that a three-week strike from school is fun, for exchange students it is quite troublesome,” Ellender said.
Ellender said her roommate is concerned that if the strike continues, she might not receive credit from William and Mary.
Matt Carney, Tulane student, is studying in Paris this semester at the University of Paris-Sorbonne.
Carney said the protesters are “mostly composed of students and labor unions.”
And they are protesting in the central area of Paris.
Ellender said the strikes are announced ahead of time on the news, and, on strike days, she wakes up 30 minutes early to walk to school and knows which areas to avoid.
Carney said there are many strikes in Paris, but the strikes mostly affect public campuses such as the Sorbonne, which operates several campuses across Paris.
“There have been two transit strikes, but even then the metros only ran with less frequency,” Carney said. “Outside of the cancelled classes, the mass protests haven’t really affected anything else around the city.”
French trade unions set April 15 as the deadline for the government to repeal the newly signed laws.
“The proposal will be abolished, and the students will go back to school in a few weeks,” Cerquiglini said.
He said the government will probably repeal the law, but the problems will remain.
“It’s a mess, but how to change the mentality of the French people is the real problem,” Cerquiglini said.
He said it will be the challenge of the new government to fix the economic problems in France and to convince people that “we must put flexibility in the job market without killing them.”
 
Contact Elizabeth Miller at [email protected]