Roundup: Crowds protest in France against labor code reform

After last week's street rally against labor reform, tens of thousands protested once again on Thursday in an attempt to force the government to withdraw its proposals.

About 80 protests were scheduled across French cities with 115 schools barricaded across the country as students remained the fiercest opponents to the reform, fearing an uncertain future and professional insecurity.

In Rennes, western France, thousands of protesters stormed a train station and temporarily disrupted rail traffic before trying to enter the city hall.

Violence erupted in the demonstration in Paris where three people were arrested and two policemen were slightly injured. Similar violent incidents have been reported in Nantes and Marseille.

Last week, 224,000 people had participated in the protest across France, while up to 29,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the French capital, according to police data.

Unions are pushing for the government to withdraw its plan to change the country's labor code.

In a move to silent critics and gain public support, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Monday proposed a revised bill to reform the labor code, which according to him, represented "a new start for this bill to give more flexibility to businesses, and more protection for employees."

According to the new version of the text, additional compensation pay for dismissed workers will be indicative and not a binding guideline as requested by some social partners.

In addition, it pledged more financial aid to poor, young people and reinforced training of unskilled people without work.

"The message is to tell the prime minister that his announcements have not convinced us. At some point, the government will have to listen to us," William Martinet, head of the main students union Unef told BFMTV news channel. Endit