Protesters disrupted vehicle traffic at Paris’ main airport and police fired clouds of tear gas in other French cities in the latest round of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reforms.
Macron’s drive to raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64 has ignited a months-long firestorm of public anger.
Talks between trade union leaders and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne broke up Wednesday without a breakthrough, setting the stage for protesters’ return to the streets.
However, the number of strikers has fallen, particularly in the transportation sector, since protests began in January.
About 400,000 people joined the protest in Paris Thursday, down from 450,000 the week before, said the powerful CGT union.
On Thursday, the Paris Metro ran almost normally, in stark contrast to previous days of action. Less than 8% of teachers were on strike, according to the Education Ministry. However, the sizeable TotalEnergies oil refinery in Gonfreville-l’Orcher remained closed.
In Paris, police were pelted by projectiles when the protest reached La Rotonde, a restaurant patronised by Macron during the 2017 presidential election that he went on to win.
Parts of the façade of the chic venue were vandalised.
Officers dispersed violent protesters, who were in the minority, with tear gas after they smashed up a branch of Credit Agricole bank.
Experts say violence seen in the nationwide protests, with dozens of demonstrators and police hurt, has turned off less activist parts of the population.