Trade unions in France transformed their traditional Labour Day marches into anti-government demonstrations on May 1. Demonstrators across Paris and other cities in France were protesting the rise in the retirement age.
The government's decision to raise the minimum eligible pension age from 62 to 64 has been met with fierce opposition and sporadic unrest over the past few months.
Peaceful start to demonstrations
In Paris, the trade union-led demonstration began peacefully, with many families joining in and holding banners calling for social justice. Some even demanded that President Emmanuel Macron resign or withdraw the law to increase the minimum eligible pension age.
However, on the edges of the march, as it passed through Paris's 11th arrondissement, police fired teargas and clashed with groups of young men dressed in black. Projectiles, bins and petrol bombs were thrown at the police, stated a report in The Guardian.
Violent clashes and damage to property
The police's response resulted in a clash that left at least 108 police officers wounded and 291 people detained across France, according to Interior Minister GĂ©rald Darmanin. There was also damage to property, with smashed bus stops and shop fronts, and graffitied anti-police slogans. In Lyon, several cars were set alight, and some businesses' windows were smashed.
Reportedly, in Nantes, bins were piled up and set alight in front of an administration building, and shop windows were smashed. In Marseille, a group of more than 100 demonstrators briefly occupied a luxury hotel near the old port before being pushed back by the police. Teargas was also fired in Toulouse and Rennes.
Trade unions call for big turnout
Trade unions had called for a big turnout on May Day, and the demonstrations were larger than standard Labour Day marches, with hundreds of thousands attending about 300 demonstrations across France. The mood of anger in France has not subsided, and trade unions have said they will continue to push back against the government's decision to raise the minimum eligible pension age.
Macron's government struggles to move on
President Emmanuel Macron signed the unpopular pension reform law last month, despite months of strikes and opposition from trade unions. The government used an executive order to push the law through parliament without a vote, resulting in sporadic unrest and clashes with the police.
Macron and the government are now trying to move on from the pensions crisis, with the president making several visits to provincial France in recent days. However, protesters have booed and banged pots and pans, signaling that the mood of anger and discontent has not subsided.
Bayrou calls for healing and reconciliation
The centrist François Bayrou, whose Mouvement Démocrate party (MoDem) is allied with Macron's parliamentary group, called for "healing and reconciliation." He said the pensions law had been badly explained by politicians and that the French people no longer tolerate decisions being made far away from them without being informed of the reasons behind those decisions.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose National Rally is the biggest opposition party in parliament, held a May Day gathering in the Normandy port of Le Havre, accusing Macron of stoking tensions in society.
