In France, the rally turned into a massive brawl with the police

People took to the streets to defend their rights.

Protests against labor law reform, brought together hundreds of thousands of people marched in Paris and other French cities. In the capital, the rally turned into clashes with police.

In France, hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Tuesday, September 12, to the streets to protest against the extensive labor market reforms initiated by President Emmanuel Macron. The interior Ministry estimated the number of demonstrators almost 223 thousand, organizers from the Union of the General Confederation of labor (CGT) called the figure of 500 thousand.

Transformations in the labour market – the first major reform that the macron is hoping to implement in fulfillment of their campaign promises. It should give companies more freedom in the sphere of labour legislation. In particular, it is assumed to set the upper limit of compensation for unfair dismissal and to unify the various organizations representing employees. Critics of the reform fear that it will limit the rights of workers.

The General Confederation of labor planned for Tuesday nearly 200 protests across the country. Demonstrations were held in major cities – Paris, Marseille, Lyon, in the South of the country – Toulouse, Bordeaux, nice, and also to the North in Rennes and Le Havre. The strike was conducted by the employees of a major transportation company SNCF, however, to serious disruptions in the movement of railway transport, they failed.

According to the Agency dpa, in Paris the demonstration came about 24 thousand people. Protesters pelted law enforcement officers with stones and other objects, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. The interior Ministry reported that 13 people were detained.
It shares also joined politicians, including the leader of the independent movement “Natchinaetsja France” Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the socialist Benoit Hamon.

Unemployment in France has for many years remained at a high level. According to Eurostat, in June the unemployment rate was 9.6 percent, which corresponds to 3.48 million.

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