Violent clashes marred protests today when one million people marched through French cities and unions staged a one-day national strike, urging the government to scrap a youth jobs law in one of France's biggest protests in decades.
Rioters attack a student protester in Paris today
Unions and student groups said three million people took part in rallies across the country, including 700,000 in central Paris, where police used tear gas against hundreds of youths who threw bottles and petrol bombs.
One union official said demonstrations against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's CPE First Job Contract were among the biggest since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.
The Interior Ministry put the national turnout at 1,055,000, twice that of a day of action a week ago. Unions and police habitually give widely diverging estimates.
Union and student leaders say the CPE will create a generation of "throwaway workers" by making it easier to dismiss employees under 26 during a two-year trial period. Mr de Villepin hopes it will reduce youth unemployment of almost 23 per cent.
"We're demanding the complete withdrawal of the CPE. You can't treat people like slaves. Giving all the power to the bosses is going too far," said Gregoire de Oliviera, a 21-year-old student protesting in Paris.
Mr de Villepin, 52, has stood firm over the plan but the strong turnout increased pressure on him to amend or withdraw the measure and calls for his resignation grew. He made a new call for talks with unions, but they rejected his appeal.
The protests forced the Eiffel Tower to close to tourists, while commuters around the country faced delays on public transport and airports were disrupted.
"The problem is we are studying just to be exploited. The government must withdraw the CPE. We will continue to protest on the streets," said Laura Dali, an 18-year-old student in Paris.
Isolated skirmishes hit marches in provincial cities and Paris, where police fired paintballs to mark troublemakers and 245 people were arrested. A water cannon was later used to quell protesters throwing missiles, but the Paris clashes were smaller than protests last week.
Mr de Villepin, a potential candidate in next year's presidential election, faces his biggest challenge since becoming prime minister last May. Opinion polls show almost two-thirds of French people oppose the CPE.
Business leaders also fear France's image will be damaged if protests continue and that investment and tourism could suffer, particularly because the crisis has erupted so soon after rioting by angry youths in city suburbs late last year.