Blockades, strikes and street protests were being organised across France on Friday as anger against Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms intensified.
It followed a night of violence in major cities including Paris, where there were 216 arrests, mainly for violently order offences.
By 9am on Friday, the Paris ring road was shut down, along with the port of Calais and numerous oil refineries.
Protesters meanwhile started to mass in major squares across the capital and riot police were ready to meet them.
Hundreds of thousands first took to the streets to express their fury on Thursday, after Mr Macron bypassed parliament, and used a presidential decree to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64.
“Disturbances took place on the Place de la Concorde, where there were 216 arrests,’ said a Paris police spokesman. “All efforts are being made to maintain order today.”
There were similar scenes in other major cities and towns, from Nantes to Marseille.
There were boos for Mr Macron’s prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, when she announced the bypassing of parliament in the National Assembly.
“We cannot take a gamble on the future of our pensions system,” said Ms Borne.
MPs from the far-Left France Unbowed party sang La Marseillaise national anthem as Ms Borne struggled to make herself heard, while others held up signs saying “Democracy?”
The Senate passed the new legislation on Thursday morning, and Ms Borne had been expected to announce a National Assembly vote in the afternoon, but Mr Macron considered this too risky.
Marine Le Pen, the National Rally MP who came second to Mr Macron in the last two presidential elections, said: ‘This is a complete failure of government’.
Calling for a no confidence vote in the Macron administration, Ms Le Pen said it was a “failure of democracy” to see the president use article 49.3 in the constitution – one that allows legislation through without a vote.
Charles de Courson, an independent MP, said: “The government’s use of the 49.3 procedure reflects the failure of this presidential minority.
“They are not just a minority in the National Assembly, they are a minority in the whole country, but we are in a democracy.”
And Fabien Roussel, the head of the Communist party said Mr Macron was “not worthy of our Fifth Republic.”
Striking Paris binmen are facing prison if they refuse to clean up the French capital following a build-up of 8,000 tonnes of rubbish.
Police “requisitioned” municipal workers on Thursday, saying that if they carried on with their protest against the pension reforms they would be prosecuted.
More than 70% of the public are opposed to raising the retirement age, according to polls, and millions have turned up at protests.
Mr Macron’s centrist Renaissance alliance has 250 MPs so it needed to win over opposition politicians to reach 289 votes, or convince some to abstain to secure a majority.
The President has staked his reformist credentials on pensions reform, and failure risked turning him into a lame duck on domestic matters with four years left in his second term.
