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 express their displeasure to the French President as he toured the country seeking to defend the reforms and relaunch his second term.
French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, told reporters that at least 108 police were wounded and 291 people detained across France as violence erupted in several cities on the sidelines of the main union-led marches.
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In Paris, radical protesters threw projectiles at police as they broke windows of businesses such as banks and estate agents, resulting in security forces responding with tear gas and water cannon, AFP correspondents said.
As police sought to disperse the protest at its endpoint, some individuals created a fire that spread to a building and prompted the fire service to intervene.
Recall that last month, President Macron signed a law to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, despite months of strikes against the bill.
