University and high school students have clashed with riot police in several French cities in the latest round of protests against the government's labour reforms. Demonstrators in the western city of Rennes barricaded railway lines and threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas.
Student protesters set up a barricade across railway tracks in Rennes, western FranceJean-Francois Monier/AFPProtesters are seen amid clouds of tear gas in Rennes, western FranceJean-Francois Monier/AFPA protester throws tear gas canisters back at riot police in Rennes, western FranceJean-Francois Monier/AFPHigh school students hold a banner reading "Tremble, Bourgeois" in Rennes, western FranceJean-Francois Monier/AFPA protester holds a flare during a demonstration against the French government's labour law reforms in Rennes, western FranceJean-Francois Monier/AFP
In Paris, students threw paint and eggs at the police. At least one police officer was knocked to the ground and several arrests were made.
Riot police face off with French high school and university students during a demonstration against the labour law proposals in ParisPascal Rossignol/ReutersAnti-riot police officers are covered in paint during clashes with students in ParisKenzo Tribouillard/AFPAnti-riot police officers arrest a man during clashes in eastern ParisKenzo Tribouillard/AFPStudents carrying a banner reading "Strike" during a demonstration in ParisPascal Rossignol/ReutersPolice clash with French high school and university students during a demonstration in ParisPascal Rossignol/ReutersMasked students protest against the French labour law proposal in ParisPascal Rossignol/ReutersA placard reads "Tear gas does not hurt, use napalm instead" during a student protest in eastern ParisKenzo Tribouillard/AFPFirefighters stand in front of the Leonard-de-Vinci high school in Levallois-Perret, outside Paris where a part of the facade caught light when a barricade was set on fireDominique Faget/AFPAnti-riot police officers scuffle with students on Boulevard Diderot in eastern ParisKenzo Tribouillard/AFP
Protests were also held in Marseille, Lille and elsewhere in France. The latest demonstrations follow several weeks of protests as the Socialist government attempts to pass the labour law which has split the country and its own ranks. President Francois Hollande and his ministers say the reforms will encourage companies to hire, reducing France's high unemployment rate, but opponents say it is a dangerous attack on safeguards which protect employees.
A protester shows her hands, inscribed with a message reading "Proper employment" in MarseilleBoris Horvat/AFPYouths and activists chant slogans as they march with a placard which translates as "Boss, your place is in prison. Shareholder, your place is in the cemetery" during a demonstration in LillePhilippe Huguen/AFP
Hollande's government watered down the original proposal shortly before it was unveiled in March, ditching a clause that would have capped severance pay awards. Economists criticise the system for creating a divide between older people with open-ended work contracts and first-timers condemned to move between short-term jobs.
