This is the fourth set of demonstrations within the past month before the proposed bill is to be discussed in the National Assembly. The minister for labour has taken away some of the proposed reforms in an attempt to make the bill more palatable yet those against it have declared it to be “beyond improvement” as it is too favourable for the employers and it creates conditions of uncertainty for the employees.


According to the syndicates, the new bill is bound to bring the labour market to complete disarray, particularly concerning the young who are trying to get into work. For the Hollande-Valls this bill is part of a wider set of reforms which aim to reduce unemployment; still the biggest goal of the French president's term where not many results have been achieved.


In the meantime the Nuit Debout (Night of the Standing) which started in the Place de la Republique on March 31 against the proposed labour changes is still going strong. Similar nightly demonstrations have been taking place in other French cities' central squares.

Apart from Paris, large demonstrations have taken place in other French cities; more than 20.000 people marched in Nantes where the police used tear-gas against the protesters.