Police clash with protesters in France’s Lyon amid fresh unrest

LYON, France — French riot police fired tear gas and charged a group of protesters in the French city of Lyon on Thursday as demonstrations took place across the country in a renewed challenge to President Emmanuel Macron after weeks of unrest.

Some of the protesters were seen shouting anti-police slogans, and some were dressed all in black, with face coverings.

The nationwide protests and a strike by public workers, called by trade unions including the left-wing CGT and backed by student groups, come after demonstrations over living costs, public services and education triggered the worst civil unrest France has seen in years.

More than 250,000 people were taking part in demonstrations across 73 cities by the afternoon, the major labor union CGT claimed.

The unions are calling for across-the-board wage raises, tax reforms and better learning conditions for young people and have complained about police restrictions on certain protests.

The unrest comes only five months before a presidential election that could pit far-right candidate Marine Le Pen against hard-left rival Jean-Luc Melenchon in a second-round run-off. Macron, who is serving his second term and is unpopular, cannot run again.

A high school near the city of Toulouse in the southwest was set on fire on Thursday morning, BFM TV reported.

French high school students and other demonstrators had earlier faced off against riot police in Paris as they blocked a street with rubbish bins on Thursday morning.

The Eiffel Tower was closed on Thursday because of the strike.

“We need to turn up in big numbers on the streets today,” CGT head Sophie Binet told LCI TV, saying protests were planned in 260 towns and cities across France.

“High school students, pensioners, students, workers, all together. Unity wins,” read one banner at the protest in Lyon.

Police deploy in large numbers

Authorities had sought to lower tensions after riots and looting on October 17 caught security forces off guard, leaving damaged shops and public buildings across the country and fueling criticism of Macron’s handling of the crisis.

French authorities will deploy around 70,000 police nationwide. The domestic intelligence service expects between 500,000 and 700,000 people to join demonstrations outside Paris.

The strike had already contributed to a reduction in France’s electricity output early on Thursday. However, no major problems were reported on the transport network.

Dozens of high-schoolers protested in several cities, with the government reporting blockades at 81 out of the country’s 3,700 high schools.

A high school student association said classes had been suspended at 1,000 such secondary schools, including those blockaded and those closed on a day of strikes.

Around 16 percent of teachers nationwide were on strike, the education ministry said.

In Paris, police used tear gas to try to prevent students from blocking access to the Helene-Boucher high school, an AFP reporter said.

Public and private education unions have called for strike action, as well as unions representing rail workers, public hospitals and postal services.

Students say conditions in schools and growing uncertainty over their future remain major concerns.

“We’re trying to keep mobilizing as much as possible. Some people aren’t doing so because they’re afraid. A lot of people are afraid of police violence,” said Irma de Banville, a 19-year-old student in Paris.

The French government has defended police tactics while saying any abuses would be investigated.

France’s main unions warned that the country is on the brink of recession and that layoff plans are multiplying. “Fuel, food products, rent, gas, electricity … everything’s going up except wages and pensions,” they said in a joint statement.

France is mired in debt and is one of the worst economic performers in Europe, along with Italy and Belgium.

The unions put President Emmanuel Macron’s government and employers on notice.

“Anger is immense,” they said. “The situation in this country is fragile. The pressing social and environmental challenges must be addressed without delay.”

Fabien Villedieu, national secretary of the SUD-Rail union, took aim at the government and the French rail company, SNCF.

“When the government is not reasonable, when the head of the SNCF is not reasonable — bosses in general are not reasonable — and when they’re not reasonable, we simply do what we’ve always done in France, which is to go on strike,” he told The Associated Press at the Paris Gare de Lyon station.

Before the strike action, the government had been negotiating with unions — a familiar scenario in French politics — in hopes of limiting the rioting, which has resulted in France’s worst civil unrest in years.

The movement began in September with a protest over staff shortages at a high school southeast of Paris and spread nationwide. It drew students demanding more education funding and workers seeking better pensions and help with soaring fuel prices and other costs.