Hundreds of thousands protest at French labor reforms
Source: Reuters
Hundreds of thousands of workers and high-school students joined protest marches across France on Wednesday to challenge plans to loosen the country's protective labor laws that unions say favor businesses.
The day of protest -- which led to scores of arrests as youths and police clashed in Paris, Lyon and Nantes -- marked the fourth such test of strength in a month for President Francois Hollande.
He has been plagued by low popularity and a jobless rate that is stuck stubbornly above 10 percent little more than a year before a presidential election.
Organizers said more than 1.2 million people took part. The interior ministry put the number at just under 400,000, higher numbers -- despite persistent rain -- than in some other recent protests.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-protests-idUSKCN0WX1EE
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