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Roundup: Violence erupts during Paris rally against labor reform on May Day

Xinhua, May 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Violence broke out between masked youth and riot police in the French capital city here Sunday during the traditional May Day rally.

Around 16,000 to 17,000 took part in the march in Paris today in protest against the proposed reform of labor law as part of this year's May Day rally, according to the police.

But figures released by major French union CGT showed that around 70,000 people took to the streets today to call for the withdrawal of the labor reform during the rally.

Protesters started marching from the Bastille Square at around 15:20 local time, holding slogans such as "Remove the law El Khomri" "It is a social decline. Do not negotiate. Let's combat!"

They marched through the streets of Lyon, the Daumesnil and the Diderot Boulevard and finally reached the destination of the Place de la Nation.

The demonstration lasted for more than three hours. Footage broadcasted by news channel BFMTV showed dozens of masked protesters threw projectiles at police officers crying "everyone hates the police!"

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd and block it to move to the the Republic square, where thousands of demonstrators led by leftist politicians and main figures of trade unions call for the withdrawal of the labor reform.

No immediate casualties have been reported and the police said the situation got under control quickly.

Police arrested 27 people, placing 24 of them in custody, after hooded youth refused to leave the Republic Square and threw projectiles at police officers.

The clashes marked the latest flare-up on the sidelines of the largely peaceful "Up All Night" gathering that began on March 31.

Meanwhile rallies in other French cities including Nantes, Bordeaux and Marseille passed without incident earlier Sunday.

Traditionally, French trade unions and other organizations take Labor Day to organize marches and demonstrations to campaign for workers' rights and other social issues in France.

But this May Day is shaping up to be especially tense given all the recent labor law protests and riots that have been escalating around the country, and becoming more violent.

A similar march ended in violence on Thursday in the French capital where eight police officers were hurt with one of them in critical situation. Endit