French protesters scuffled with police, dock workers set off smoke bombs and union activists disrupted fuel supplies and nuclear plants yesterday in the biggest challenge yet to President Francois Hollande’s government as it tries to give employers more flexibility.
On a day of nationwide strikes and protests, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls opened the door to possible changes in the labor bill that’s triggering all the anger — but said the government would not abandon it. Union activists said it’s too late to compromise. Posters at a protest in the port of Le Havre bore a blood red tombstone representing the bill reading: “Not amendable, not negotiable: Withdraw the El Khomri Law.”
The draft law, aimed at boosting hiring after a decade of nearly 10 percent unemployment and slow but corrosive economic decline, relaxes rules around the 35-hour work week, weakens the power of unions and leaves workers less protected from layoffs.
Determined to defend France’s labor protections, union activists have targeted the strategic fuel industry in recent days, causing gasoline shortages. The country’s two main oil ports were blocked yesterday and only two of the France’s eight refineries were working, the head of the UFIP oil industry lobby, Francis Duseux, told The Associated Press.
“There could be improvements and modifications” in the bill, Valls said on BFM television. He didn’t elaborate on what might be changed, and insisted that the “heart” of the bill — a measure weakening the power of unions over workplace rules — should remain.
Withdrawing the bill “is not possible,” he said.
A demonstrator burns flares and shouts slogans during a demonstration in Marseille
Union activists and ordinary workers took to the streets in several cities. In Paris, police detained nine people and scuffled with masked protesters as several thousands marched from the Bastille plaza through eastern Paris.
Members of the firmly leftist CGT union, leading the protests, remain angry that the government forced the bill through the lower house of parliament without a vote because of division in the Socialist majority.
“Valls is hardening his tone? Well we’re hardening our tone, too!” an organizer shouted into a loudspeaker at the Normandy Bridge, in northern France, where some 200 to 300 trade unionists and other protesters gathered to block traffic.
The union activists then made their way into the port city of Le Havre, waving red flags, a percussion band leading the way. At least 10,000 dock workers and others poured into an esplanade in front of Le Havre city hall, setting off smoke bombs and threatening bystanders. They tossed powerful fireworks into the fountains, sending plumes of water rising into the air as the square reverberated with explosions.
The demonstration was rowdy at times — one AP journalist was egged and the protesters pelted the mayor’s office with paint bombs — yet protesters took care to stay off the manicured lawn. One demonstrator was spotted urinating against the mayor’s office beside bright yellow graffiti reading: “Hollande, Valls, Resign.”
Fabien Gloaguen, an activist with the militant Worker’s Force movement, said the government would have to back down. “He’s going to withdraw it,” Gloaguen said.
Valls insisted the bill is “good for workers” and small businesses, and argued that many of its critics are ill-informed of its contents. Raphael Satter, Angela Charlton, AP
police use tear gas, detain 16, during protests
Riot police have used tear gas during violent clashes in central Paris to disperse crowds who attacked shop facades during a protest against a divisive labor law reform. Police say they have made 16 arrests. A police spokesman estimated that between 18,000 and 19,000 people were taking part in the protest, which took a violent turn early afternoon. Several masked protesters charged the windows of high street shops, smashing them amid banner-waving and shouts from other demonstrators demanding that the government scrap the bill that will make it easier to hire and fire workers and loosen the work week.
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