Protests Erupt in France over Proposed Labor Reforms

Published 31 March 2016

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Undocumented immigrants successfully occupied the Directorate General of Labor, while protesters clashed with police and shut down transportation.

Protests erupted across France on Thursday against proposed sweeping labor reforms, shutting down dozens of schools, transportation and the Eiffel Tower.

High school and university students joined unions, journalists and pro-labor groups in 266 actions across the country. The government proposed minor tweaks to the pro-business reforms earlier in the month, but protesters insist the changes are not enough.

Hundreds of undocumented immigrants also demanded the legalization of their work status by successfully occupying the Directorate General of Labor in Paris. After 48 hours of blocking about 1,500 employees from entering, the nearly 350 immigrants and union members scored a meeting with Myriam El Khomri, Minister of Labor and a main target of the protests. El Khomri agreed to form working groups to discuss how to regulate the black market.

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Students in Amiens also voted to occupy a lecture hall, students in Paris organized a “Militant School” with alternative teach-ins, and students in Nantes protested outside city hall, with some breaking windwos. One quarter of railway workers also went on strike, according to the SNCF union, as did workers at the Eiffel Tower and all copy editors of Paris’s influential Le Parisien paper.