Nantes Student Demonstration Turns Violent As Hollande Pushes Through Labour Reforms

Youth unemployment in France is at 25 percent.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters

A student demonstration in France turned violent on Thursday forcing police to respond with tear gas.

The protest was held in the city of Nantes over proposed labour reforms that are intended to free up the job market.

France suffers from an unemployment rate of around 10 percent, with youth unemployment at a staggering 25 percent.

President Francois Hollande, up for re-election next year, proposed the reforms that students and trade unions say threaten workers’ rights.

Thursday’s protest saw nine arrests as students threw bottles at security forces.

A second demonstration was held in a southern suburb of Paris.

Stephane Mahe / Reuters
A French policeman in riot gear holds a flashball gun.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
Clouds of tear gas surround a youth.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
Demonstrators react near burning garbage bins.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
French gendarmes in riot gear walk past burning garbage bins.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
French gendarmes in riot gear.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
French police and gendarmes apprehend a youth.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
A cloud of tear gas fills the air.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
French police apprehend a youth.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
A cloud of tear gas surrounds French high school and university students.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
French high school and university students take part in a demonstration against the labour reform bill.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
French high school and university students take part in a demonstration.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
Students take part in a demonstration against the labour reform bill.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
University students take part in a demonstration.
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
University students take part in a demonstration against the labour reform bill.
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