Hailed as the biggest show of strength yet against the long-contested labor reforms in France, a million protesters demonstrated on the streets of Paris yesterday -- many thousands more nationwide -- to say "no" to planned changes that would make hiring and firing workers easier, the Euro News website reports today (June 15, 2016).
Refuse collectors and taxi drivers were among those taking strike action -- not to mention the train drivers -- and there was an unpleasant surprise for would-be visitors to the Eiffel Tower, which was closed for the day as staff stopped work to join the protest.
One German visitor said: "We are here, amongst other things, to watch the football. [France is currently hosting the Euro 2016 football tournament.] We also want to visit all the Paris sights. But unfortunately we just found out that there is a strike here and also in other places in Paris. That's a shame for tourists."
The chaos of strikes was matched by turmoil on the streets as clashes broke out on the sidelines of the Paris march. Riot police fired tear gas and used water cannons as items were thrown at them and windows smashed, with a number of arrests made and injuries on both sides.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment