Protesters storm Le Havre square and clash with police in Paris as French PM says legislation will stand

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

French protesters scuffled with police, dock workers set off smoke bombs and union activists disrupted fuel supplies and nuclear plants on Thursday in the biggest challenge yet to François Hollande’s government as it tries to give employers more flexibility.



On a day of nationwide strikes and protests, the prime minister, Manuel Valls, opened the door to possible changes in the contentious labour bill but said the government would not abandon it. Union activists said it was 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.”

Why have France's labour reforms proved so contentious? Read more

The draft law, aimed at boosting hiring after a decade of nearly 10% 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 labour protections, union activists have targeted the strategic fuel industry in recent days, causing gasoline shortages. The country’s two main oil ports were blocked on Thursday and only two of France’s eight refineries were working, the head of the UFIP oil industry lobby, Francis Duseux, said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Crowds gather in Le Havre. Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

“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.

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 thousand people 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 organiser shouted into a loudspeaker at the Normandy Bridge, in northern France, where 200-300 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.

Fabien Gloaguen, an activist with the Workers Force movement, said the government would have to back down.



Valls insisted the bill is “good for workers” and small businesses, and argued that many of its critics were ill-informed of its contents.

In addition to loosening rules about the 35-hour work week, the bill makes it easier to fire workers in times of economic downturn, and weakens the power of unions to set working conditions across an entire sector.

The stakes are high for both Hollande and the unions. The president is hopeful of being re-elected next year, despite being deeply unpopular, and needs to show he has the strength to push through reforms. The unions are fighting for relevance, having lost membership in recent years.

Union revolt puts both Hollande's future and France's image on the line Read more

“We’re at an interesting juncture. If the movement finishes once more in failure, it might make further mobilisation more complicated,” said Stephane Sirot, a historian of the French union movement at the University of Cergy-Pontoise.

He said it’s been decades since a leftwing government has been confronted with a nationwide strike of this magnitude.

Two months of protests escalated over the past week as unions targeted the sensitive oil industry, blocking fuel depots and refineries.

The government has started using its strategic fuel reserves and forcing depots to reopen, but supplies remained spotty Thursday, with long lines and caps on purchases.

Drivers endured long waits to reach gas pumps, railing at the strikes, the government and the overall funk in France. Prices have risen noticeably at gas pumps and some stations are rationing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Union activists guard a traffic circle near the Normandy Bridge. Photograph: Raphael Satter/AP

But at the blocked Normandy Bridge, at least one pair of travellers said they did not mind.

“It’s for us that they’re doing this,” said Jean-Luc Geraert, whose van was caught behind the makeshift barricade. Geraert, a 55-year-old industrial painter, said the situation would get worse if the government does not back down soon.