French Police Violently Clash with Trade Unions Protesters

French riot police officers violently clashed with protesters and launched tear gas in several cities and arrested an undetermined number of people as thousands took to the streets across the country to protest labor reforms.

In Nantes, about 9,000 demonstrators poured onto the streets, according to police. According to local reports, a Porsche and a motorcycle scooter were set on fire. Windows were also shattered by angry protesters across the city, where four people were arrested and one person injured.

In Rennes, police also launched tear gas on demonstrators who were throwing projectiles on a street leading to the square of the Parliament of Brittany.

Protesters also took down a CCTV camera, and a balcony of the first floor of a building was set on fire. A local storefront was vandalized with paint bombs.

The downtown area has been sealed off by security forces and nine people were arrested, France Bleu reported.

Tear gas was also deployed on protesters in Lyon.

Rallies and protests erupted against the labor law reforms since they were presented by Labor Minister Myrian El Khomri.

The government explained that the reforms – which focus on fighting unemployment by loosening protections on France's 35-hour work week and layoffs, and reducing overtime bonuses – will help curb the country's high unemployment rate which affects about 3.6 million people.

Several major French trade unions and youth organizations called for the general strike across the country to protest the labor reform currently debated in Congress, which they describe as the biggest step back for labor rights in the country's history.

Almost two months after the first mobilizations, staged on March 9, the protesters will demand the social-democrat government to remove the bill.

A few amendments though eventually managed to convince the national board of two mainstream trade unions, along with CFDT, CGC and UNSA, but many other organizations remain firmly mobilized against the whole bill, including CGT, FO, Solidaires and FSU.

NEWS:

French Youth Protest Reforms that Affect Labor, Help Business

Since March 31, students from high schools and universities have started their own mobilization, occupying the Republic Square in Paris and other French cities under the name “Nuit Debout” (“Up All Night”) — which analysts have compared to the U.S. movement, Occupy Wall Street and the Spanish “Indignados” movement.

So far, the Nuit Debout protesters have been reluctant to include trade unions in their struggle, which they consider as part of the establishment they denounce.

However, voices raised among the movement — which has been criticized for representing mainly French white youth — have called for more inclusion of a more diverse segments of civil society, like workers and the ethnically diverse “banlieues” or neighborhoods..