Tear gas used against French students protesting work laws French police have used tear gas and water cannons on students as protests against new youth employment laws gain momentum. Stone-throwing protesters clashed with police outside the Sorbonne university in Paris. A kiosk was set ablaze and several shop windows were smashed. The protests were organised in anger at the proposed First Employment Contract (CPE), a contested youth jobs measure. The new laws remove unfair dismissal provisions from employment contracts for anyone under the age of 26. Unions, student groups and the political left say the CPE, which can be broken off without explanation in the first two years, is a licence to hire and fire at will, and are demanding its withdrawal. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who championed the scheme as a key tool in fighting youth unemployment, faces the most serious test of his premiership as the wave of protests paralyses dozens of French universities.