France Labor Law Protests Turn Violent

Local Editor

Two dozen French police officers have been injured, three of them seriously, as violence flared in mass protests across the country against a hotly contested labor reform bill.

Security forces in Paris responded with tear gas as masked youths threw bottles and cobblestones, leaving three policemen with serious injuries, said the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, adding that 24 police were injured overall.

Clashes between police and protesters also erupted in the cities of Nantes, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse, with 124 people arrested nationwide, Cazeneuve said.

The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, said the "irresponsible minority" resolved would be "brought to justice".

In Paris, security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades early on Friday to disperse hundreds of people who had refused to leave Place de la Republique after a night-time rally.

Police gradually pushed the protesters back into adjacent streets, with several arrested.

Two buses and two scooters were torched a few hundred meters from the site.

The clashes came as at least 170,000 workers and students took to streets nationwide on Thursday in a new push for the withdrawal of the proposed labour law.

"We have always condemned violence," said Jean-Claude Mailly of the Force Ouvriere trade union, arguing that the violence occurred "outside of the protests".

William Martinet, leader of the biggest student union, the UNEF, condemned the rioters but also denounced a "disproportionate use of force by the police".

The demonstrations as well as work stoppages, notably in the aviation and public transport sectors, were the latest actions in a wave of protests that began two months ago and has proved a major headache for the government.

Opponents of the labor reform, billed as an effort to reduce chronic unemployment, which stands at 10%, say it will threaten cherished rights and deepen job insecurity for young people.

"Be Young and Shut Up!" read one banner at a protest in south-western Toulouse, highlighting the frustration of youths facing an unemployment rate of 25%.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team