French students march for more state funds (fwd)

[Chegitz Guevara <mluziett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Marc, "the Chegitz," Luzietti
http://shrike.depaul.edu/~mluziett

I'm not anti-society, society's anti-me
I'm not anti-religion, religion's anti-me
I'm not anti-tradition, tradition's anti-me
I'm not anti-anything, I just want to be free.

Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 95 18:36:59 -0801
From: Neighborhood Queen <clyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Multiple recipients of list <riot-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: French students march for more state funds

French students march for more state funds
a1188LBY617reulb
r i BC-FRANCE-STUDENTS   11-30 0543
^BC-FRANCE-STUDENTS (SCHEDULED)@
 ^French students march for more state funds@
    By Frederic Niel
    PARIS, Nov 30 (Reuter) - Tens of thousands of students
marched in French cities on Thursday to back demands for more
funds for overcrowded state universities and to protest against
government attempts to placate them with words instead of cash.
    Crowds of labour unionists demonstrating against government
austerity plans joined forces with the younger protesters in
several cities in a growing tide of social unrest.
    But the labour protest had its downside. A major transport
strike now in its seventh day against Prime Minister Alain
Juppe's plans to cut state deficits stranded many would-be
protesters and hampered the students' plans for a mass
demonstration in Paris.
    Police estimated that about 10,000 protesters were marching
from the south of the capital towards the National Assembly
building, which was surrounded by riot police.
    More than 15,000 marched in the southwestern city of
Toulouse, a hotbed of the current student unrest. ``Students,
wage-earners, united,'' read one banner, recalling
student-workers riots in May, 1968.
    There were about 10,000 demonstrators in Lyon, France's
second city, and 17,000 in the alpine city of Grenoble.
    Students have been on strike in dozens of universities
across the country, some for several weeks, to protest against a
lack of teachers and classrooms.
    ``We are determined,'' Pouria Amirshahi, secretary-general
of the UNEF-ID students union, said as he headed up the
procession with leaders of teachers' unions.
    In several cities, students were joined by striking railway
and utility workers who oppose plans to reduce deficits by
reforming the welfare system and the state SNCF railway company.
    High school students also joined some marches.
    Students want two billion francs ($400 million) in extra
funds to be spent immediately to improve conditions in
universities with enrollments of more than two million students,
up from 300,000 a quarter of a century ago.
    An opinion poll published in the weekly Paris-Match said 85
percent of voters supported their demands and 51 percent saw the
protests as a reflection of the students' concern about their
future in a society plagued by unemployment.
    Bayrou has proposed a four-year plan to iron out
inequalities among the 90 universities by feeding more money to
the most overcrowded and understaffed. But, constrained by the
government's deficit cutting drive, he offered only 200 million
francs ($40 million) more annually on the poorest colleges.
    The poll said 65 percent of voters believed Bayrou's plan
was insufficient.
    ``Bayrou is a minister for words, not for action,'' said
Herve Baro, secretary-general of the teachers union.
    Bayrou has offered to meet student leaders on Friday to
discuss wide-ranging university reform. Unions said they would
decide later in the day whether to attend the talks.
    The student protests, which began last month, were widely
seen as testing government will to meet the low-deficit criteria
for switching to a planned single European currency in 1999.
    They have been overshadowed in recent days by the
snowballing social unrest and the clash between the government
and unions bent on forcing Juppe to drop his austerity drive.
 ^REUTER@
Reut12:22 11-30-95

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service


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