Violence erupts during Paris May Day rally as 'Up All Night' continues

Violence broke out between masked youth and riot police in the French capital city during the traditional May Day rally as thousands of people took to the streets in protest against the proposed reform of labor law.

Around 16,000 to 17,000 took part in the march in Paris today, according to the police. But figures released by major French union CGT showed that around 70,000 people joint the demonstration to call for the withdrawal of the labor reform.

Protesters started marching from the Bastille Square at around 15:20 local time, holding slogans such as "Remove the law El Khomri" "It is a social decline. Do not negotiate. Let's combat!"

They marched through the streets of Lyon, the Daumesnil and the Diderot Boulevard and finally reached the destination of the Place de la Nation.

Traditionally, French trade unions and other organizations take Labor Day to organize marches and demonstrations to campaign for workers' rights and other social issues in France.

But this May Day is shaping up to be especially tense given all the recent labor law protests and riots that have been escalating around the country, and becoming more violent.

The demonstration lasted for more than three hours amid a heightened police presence after several recent protests against labor reforms ended in violence. However, clashes erupted as dozens of masked protesters threw projectiles at police officers crying "everyone hates the police!"

Police responded with tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd and block it to move to the Republic square, which has been occupied by the ongoing youth-led "Nuit Debout" or "Up All Night" movement in the past month.

France has seen a series of strikes and protests against the labor reform bill, the so-called El Khomri law which was put forward by Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri.

The proposed reform aims to encourage companies to hire by easing labor market regulations. The proposal came at a time when the country reported merely 1.14 percent growth in 2015 with the youth unemployment rate up at 25 percent.

Protesters worried that the reforms will threaten workers' rights and deepen job insecurity of young people, many of whom stuck on short-term contracts or internships.

Amid the protests, "Up All Night" movement arised. The largely peaceful gathering that began on March 31 as a protest against the proposed labor code reform and have since grown to encompass a range of grievances.

The "Up All Night" movement passed off peacefully at first but the sit-in frequently degenerated into clashes with police recently.

Last Thursday, police arrested 27 people, placing 24 of them in custody, after hooded youth refused to leave the Republic Square and threw projectiles at police officers.

In the early hours of Friday morning, people set two cars on fire and destroyed shopfronts, to which police responded with tear gas.

Armand, one of the organizers of the "Up All Night" movement, told Xinhua in an interview that they plan to continue the sit-in for about two months.

"We are staying on this place every day and every night to do much more than just talking about the Labor law," he said.

"We are here because we think the democratic system in France is not working anymore. And all the people who are here want to have a voice heard," he said.

Noting that attendants are the advocates of a broad spectrum of causes, Armand said they have one thing in common: "We need to rethink the democratic system in France."

Asked about the violence, he said: "As the movement continues, we will have less and less fights at night because we have forbidden the use of alcohol on the place."

"We are here to think, we are not here to party," he stressed, expecting that a negotiation with government will begin in two weeks. "But it is really not up to us," he said.

Source: XINHUA