As France increases retirement age, May Day protest erupts in the capital Paris
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Clashes erupted in Paris on Monday marking May 1, a traditional day of union-led marches, in the wake of hugely unpopular changes to France’s pension system that were signed into law last month.
A building caught fire at Place de la Nation as the French capital turned into a pitched battle between protesters and riot police.
Around 112,000 people took part in Monday’s protest in the French capital, said Paris Police. It is the second-highest turnout since demonstrations against pension reform began this year.
Chaotic scenes were reported on ground from the protests, having witnessed fireworks and other projectiles thrown at the police who answered with tear gas as they retreated and regrouped.
The building that caught fire at Place de la Nation, the end point of the protest, was contained. Police said two fuel containers in front of a work site were set on fire by a radical fringe, which was later put out.
Tear gas choked the air in Place de la Nation as clashes continued and protesters showed no sign of dispersing later on Monday.
Police charged at protesters under the cover of a water cannon and were confronted with a barrage of fireworks and stones torn from the square.
Ahead of the protest the police had warned of a heightened risk of violence, with a total of 291 detentions across France, 90 of whom were apprehended in Paris, according to the French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
More than 100 policemen were injured in May Day protests, he added, including 19 in Paris with one policeman suffering serious burns from a molotov cocktail.
This comes after one of France’s largest unions, the CGT, had called for “historic” protests following months of unrest and widespread strikes that saw transport grind to a halt and garbage mount in the streets of Paris.
France’s Constitutional Council, which plays a similar role to the US Supreme Court, in April approved the most controversial part of the reform – the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Despite the decision, some of France’s powerful unions say they will fight on, with the question now whether this anger will plague the rest of Macron’s time in office or disappear from the streets.
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