Letter: Students getting the shaft in France

Friday, March 31, 2006 | 7:09 a.m.

As many of us are aware, nearly 1 million students and union workers rioted in Paris last Friday. These riots were in response to the new youth labor law enacted by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. This new law states that employers now have the power to fire employees under the age of 26 without reason during the first two years of employment.

As a student at Brigham Young University and a Las Vegas resident who will be a future contributor to the worldwide economy, this new law seems outrageous to me and goes against everything I hope my future holds. If the French government feels this new law is the answer to the 25 percent unemployment rates for citizens under the age of 26, they are gravely mistaken. This will completely dissolve work relationships between employers and French youth.

How can the French government ever expect the French youth to evolve into a trustworthy workforce, when they themselves are showing such distrust toward these "future leaders"?

As hard as university life is, I can't even imagine how much harder it would be to know that no one, not even my own government, believed in me.

Nick Lombardo, Provo, Utah