Clashes erupt at French May Day protests against Macron

Protesters walk among teargas during a demonstration on May Day (Labour Day) to mark the international day of the workers, more than a month after the government pushed an unpopular pensions reform act through parliament, in Lyon, eastern France, on May 1, 2023. Opposition parties and trade unions have urged protesters to maintain their three-month campaign against the law that will hike the retirement age to 64 from 62. (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD / AFP)

(AFP) - Protesters clashed with security forces across France on Monday as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets for Labour Day to vent their anger against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform.

Unions had been hoping for a vast turnout nationwide to further rattle Macron, who has been greeted by pot-bashing and jeers as he toured the country seeking to defend the reforms and relaunch his second term.

Macron last month signed a law to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, despite months of strikes against the bill.

At least 108 police were wounded, 25 in Paris, and 291 people detained across France -- 111 in the capital -- as violence erupted in several cities on the sidelines of the main union-led marches, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters.

In Paris, radical protesters threw projectiles at police and broke windows of businesses such as banks and estate agents, with security forces responding with tear gas and water cannon, AFP correspondents said.

Darmanin condemned protesters he described as being from the far-left, known as "black blocs", saying they numbered around 2,000 in Paris and another 1,000 in the southeastern city of Lyon.

He urged that "those who attacked the police and public property be severely punished."

As police sought to disperse the protest at its end point, some individuals created a fire that spread to a building and prompted the fire service to intervene.

- 'Extremely rare' -

Security forces deployed tear gas in Toulouse in southern France as tensions erupted during demonstrations, while four cars were set on fire in Lyon, where authorities said 54 arrests were made.

In the western city of Nantes, police also fired tear gas after protesters hurled projectiles, AFP correspondents said. The windows of Uniqlo clothing store were smashed.

Protesters briefly occupied the luxury InterContinental hotel in France's second city Marseille, breaking flowerpots and damaging furniture.

A further 31 people were detained in the eastern city of Besancon and 23 others in Bordeaux in the southwest, according to the authorities.

"In many cities in France, this May Day was a moment for responsible mobilisation and commitment. The scenes of violence on the sidelines of the demonstrations are all the more unacceptable," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne wrote on Twitter.

Darmanin added that such a high toll of police wounded was "extremely rare" for a May 1 protest day.

Some 782,000 people protested across France, including 112,000 in Paris alone, the interior ministry said. The CGT union said it counted 2.3 million protesters across France, including 550,000 in the capital.

The turnout was massively higher than May Day last year but smaller than the biggest protests seen against the pension reform this year.

- 'Still very strong' -

Macron and his government have tried to move on from the months of popular discontent, hoping to relaunch his second term after the reform was signed into law.

"The page is not going to be turned as long as there is no withdrawal of this pension reform. The determination to win is intact," said CGT chief Sophie Binet at the Paris protest.

Monday marked the first time since 2009 that all eight of France's main unions joined in calling for protests.

- 'Red card' to Macron -

France has been rocked by a dozen days of nationwide strikes and protests against Macron and his pension changes since mid-January, some of which have turned violent.

When Macron attended the final of the French football cup on Saturday, he was met with activists waving red cards.

Almost three in four French people were unhappy with Macron, a survey by the IFOP polling group found last month.

Borne, with Macron's support, invoked in March the controversial article 49.3 of the constitution to ram the pension reform through parliament without a vote in the hung lower house.

In the Place de la Republique where the Paris march started, a huge vest with the slogan "Macron resign" was fixed to the giant statue symbolising the French republic at its centre.

"The law has been passed but has not been accepted, there is a desire to show discontent peacefully to have a reaction in response that shows a certain level of decency," said Celine Bertoni, 37, an academic in the central city of Clermont-Ferrand.

May Day demonstrations on a smaller and less fractious scale took place across Europe, including Spain where flag-waving demonstrators joined more than 70 rallies under the slogan: "Raise wages, lower prices and share profits".

© Agence France-Presse