France marked a ninth day of nationwide strikes and protests on Thursday after President Emmanuel Macron pledged to implement his disputed pensions overhaul by the end of the year. More than 250 rallies were held across the country, with violence reported in several cities.
Some 12,000 police were deployed across the country – including 5,000 in Paris.
According to the hardline CGT union, wome 800,000 people joined demonstrations in the capital – the largest attendance figure put forward by unions since protests began in January.
Paris protesters set off from Place de la Bastille for a march that was to last five hours.
Violence broke out at the head of the march, where several hundred protesters dressed in black broke windows and street furniture, AFP reported.
The violent protesters, known as black blocs, damaged convenience stores and a McDonald's restaurant while throwing projectiles and chanting "anticapitalist".
The protesters also threw cobblestones and bottles at police and set fire to garbage cans, AFP reported.
Earlier hundreds of protesters flooded onto train tracks in the Gare de Lyon, interrupting traffic and causing a delay of at least half an hour.
Meanwhile access to terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle airport was blocked.
Clashes were also reported in the Breton cities on Nantes and Rennes.
Union sources said 35 percent of public transport workers downed tools. More than a quarter of employees at national electricity provider EDF stopped work at noon, while up to 50 percent of primary school teachers went on strike.
Macron interview
In a television interview on Wednesday, President Macron said he was prepared to accept unpopularity because the bill raising the retirement age by two years was "necessary" and "in the general interest of the country".
Acting on Macron's instructions, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked an article in the constitution a week ago to force the adoption of the reform without a parliamentary vote.
The government on Monday narrowly survived a no-confidence motion.
In the TV interview, Macron confirmed his commitment to the "democratic process" stating that the reform "must come into effect by the end of the year."
Philippe Martinez, head of the hard-line CGT union, said that the remarks showed "disdain for the thousands of people who have been protesting".
"Denial and contempt," was the reaction of Laurent Berger, general secretary of the moderate CFDT trade union group. Berger accused Macron of "lying" about pensions "to hide his inability to find a majority to vote for his unjust reform".
The national railway company, SNCF announced on Wednesday that it will be able to operate only half of its TGV Inoui and Ouigo trains and one-third of its regional TER trains.
In the Paris region, traffic will be "severely disrupted" with 20 to 50 percent of trains running.
French daily newspaper Le Parisien, which shows a piction of Macron on the front page of its 22 March edition with the word "Inflexible" in large print, estimates that the ninth major day of inter-union mobilisation set for Thursday could attract significant support as a result of Macron's unwillingness to budge.
Paris municipal bin collectors pledged to continue their rolling strike, that has seen thousands of tonnes of rubbish pile up in the streets, until Monday.
Blockades at oil refineries will also continue, potentially creating fuel shortages.
(with wires)
