French trade unions on Wednesday set President Jacques Chirac an April 15 deadline to repeal a disputed youth jobs law, scenting victory amid mass protests and the sliding poll ratings of Chirac's government.
As fears grew about the impact of the dispute on the euro zone's second-largest economy, students blockaded roads in several cities in a second day of scattered protests after Tuesday's marches drew at least 1 million onto the streets.
Union chiefs met conservative deputies for discussions after Chirac last week effectively took Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin off the case and promised parliamentary amendments to soften the "easy hire, easy fire" First Job Contract (CPE).
"We asked for the CPE to be repealed as soon as possible," CFDT union leader Francois Chereque said afterwards.
"They had nothing to say. We didn't get any response."
Force Ouvriere union chief Rene Valladon said France's 12 main unions wanted the three-day-old law repealed by April 15.
Students are due to hold protests next Tuesday but unions have so far not called any more strikes. Asked what unions would do if the deadline was not met, Valladon said "nothing was ruled out" and that unions would meet on Monday to plot strategy.
Scrapping the law could be the last nail in the coffin for Villepin's premiership. His poll ratings have plumbed new depths and his authority in government is already being challenged by rivals, notably ambitious Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
But the setting of the deadline of April 15 - the start of France's Easter vacations - could reflect trade union concerns that the protests could fizzle out over the holiday period.
Villepin told parliament enigmatically that he would "draw the conclusions" of any decisions made on the law, but did not explain what he planned to do. Some local media concluded it was a veiled resignation threat, while others said it was unclear.
MAKESHIFT BLOCKADES Though most marches passed off peacefully during a fifth day of rallies across France on Tuesday, 383 people were arrested in clashes in Paris. Arrests were also made in the western city of Rennes after youths stoned police.
Chirac's office issued a statement with the president urging students and schoolchildren to go back to their classes, but protests continued in parts of France on Wednesday.
Hundreds of students erected makeshift blockades on major routes into the western cities of Poitiers and Rennes, causing traffic jams of up to several kilometres (miles).
Six hundred protesters blocked deliveries at a groceries market in Nantes, also in the west. A student spokesman said the aim was to "block the economy to make the government act".
Food catering group Sodexho Alliance, which counts schools among its large customers, warned its sales could be hit by further strikes and protests that have led to the closure of hundreds of schools around France.
Villepin championed the CPE contract as a tool to cut youth unemployment of 22 percent. But critics say the measure, which allows firms to lay off under-26s at any time in a two-year period, will fuel job insecurity.
Anxious not to lose his prime minister a year ahead of presidential elections, Chirac has given Villepin public support despite misgivings about his choice of tactics.
But Villepin's approval ratings have slumped 20 points to 28 percent in two months, according to a new poll, badly hurting his thinly veiled ambition to run for president in 2007.
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