seeking legal recourse to prove they were unjustly fired rather than the employer to prove just cause for the dismissal. Supporters The CPE was officially designed to encourage employers to hire more employees under 26 by offering tax cuts and flexibility to employers, and was expected to offer young people access the job market that they have been desperately missing previously (One in four young people in France is unemployed, but the figure rises to 50% in the poor suburbs.) Unlike in more conservative employment environments, such as those of the US or the UK, firing an employee under long-term contract is made hard for French employers once the probation period (maximum three months) elapses. "Firing people is difficult and costly, this has made firms over the years more and more reluctant to take people on" The purported aim of the CPE law was to break this reluctance. Supporters of the CPE believe it will reduce the high unemployment, particularly among poor youths. Employers, they contend, will be more willing to take chances with young employees if they are not constrained by France's job security laws. They claim that unemployment is partially caused by the restrictive labor laws which they believe have also helped keep economic growth at a low level by discouraging business foundation and expansion. Softening the "rigid employment code" has been the motto of MEDEF and employers in general for years, and is claimed by French liberals (those supporting free-market policies) to be a key way to help both economic growth and employment. Supporters of the CPE and opponents of the blockading of the universities called demonstrations in the streets in March and April. These demonstrations of support from the government only mustered hundreds, while the anti-government protests got millions. Critics Critics of the law included all trade unions (evincing a rarely found unanimity between the various politically oriented unions CGT, CFDT, FO, CFTC, CGC-CGE etc.), many students (for example the students' union UNEF), all the left-wing political parties, and to a lesser extent some centrist opponents, such as the moderately conservative Union for French Democracy (UDF), saying that the CPE would make it easier for employers to exert pressure on employees (lowering wages, sexual harassment, etc.) since they could dismiss their younger employees at any time, without any judicially contestable reason. Some opponents dubbed it the "Kleenex contract", implying that the CPE would allow employers to