Tens of thousands of striking rail workers, public sector staff and students have rallied across France against President Emmanuel Macron.
Demonstrators chanted and carried anti-Macron banners on Thursday in Paris and other cities such as Lyon and Marseille, but the scale of the protests appeared below expectations.
About 15,000 rallied in Paris, according to a count by crowd consultancy, Occurrence, while police estimated the number at 11,500. Hard-left CGT union, the main organiser, put the crowd at 50,000.
“We’re here for public services. We’re ready to continue the whole summer, even into September and October,” Helene Tricre, a 25-year-old ticket inspector working for the SNCF railway, told AFP news agency at the Paris rally.
The peaceful march was marred by occasional clashes between police and far-left groups, many of them hooded and masked, who were seen smashing shop windows.
Rail workers were also carrying out their fourth wave of stoppages this month, although the number of strikers was down sharply from the beginning of April.
