France: Anti-labour reform protest turns violent in Rennes

Police used tear gas against anti-labour reform protesters in the French city of Rennes, Saturday. Protesters set fire to trash bins, broke CCTV cameras, defaced buildings with graffiti and threw objects at police as riot police attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas.
A series of protests have broken out across France, starting n March 9, after the government forced through controversial labour reforms. Hundreds of thousands of workers and students have participated in protest marches in Paris, Lyon and Nantes, among other cities, challenging plans to water-down the country's protective labour laws, reforms that protesters say will favour businesses.
Commonly referred to as the 'El Khomri law,' after French Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri, President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls have said they will impose the labour reforms by decree after the government survived vote of no confidence put forward by The Republican Party.
The reforms will concern almost all aspects of the country's labour laws; easing conditions for employers to hire and fire workers; firms will also have greater freedoms to reduce workers' pay and will be able to extend working week from its current 35 hours to a maximum of 46 hours.
France's Socialist government says the reforms are essential to boosting the economy and helping cut high levels of unemployment. The changes have been condemned by student groups and labour unions, who believe that it will become easier for employers to bypass workers' rights on pay, overtime and breaks. Hollande's Socialist government mitigated the initial labour reform proposal in March by dropping a clause that would have capped severance pay awards.
The protests pile further pressure on Hollande, who has said he will not run for re-election if he fails to bring down France's unemployment level below ten percent.