PARIS, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of French people protested on Tuesday across the country against President Emmanuel Macron's reform to loosen rigid labor regulations, which he said was needed to create more jobs and revive wane economy.
Despite the decision of CFDT and FO unions to stay away, the CGT union's call brought 400,000 demonstrators onto the streets in different French cities, according to organizers.
In Paris, 60,000 protesters took part in the demonstration, CGT said, while police set the number at 24,000.
Similar crowd took the streets of the southern town of Marseille. Up to 16,000 people participated in the movement in Toulouse and 10,000 in Rennes, west France, the union's data showed. Other rallies were also reported also in Nice, Caen, Saint Nazaire and Le Havre.
"It's a first one and it looks like it's a success," head of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, was quoted as saying by local media.
"We agree on a reform of the labor reform but we refuse to give full powers to the employers," he said.
Joining protestors in Marseille, Jean-Luc Melenchon, chief of hard-left "France Unbowed" party, said "Mr. Macron knows very well it's a power struggle, that's what he wants."
"We will make him back down," he added.
Facing street protests amid sliding public support, France's youngest head of state in modern history, stood firm in passing the reform "without hesitation and with the "certainty that the country needs it."
"I will be absolutely determined and I will not give anything, neither to the idlers nor the cynics nor to the extremes," he said during a recent visit to Athens.
With the disputed reform, Macron eyes to lessen labor rules by offering more flexibility to companies to hire and fire and more freedom in terms of pay and working conditions that the unions said were unfair.
About 1,200 policemen were deployed to secure the anti-labor reform protest in Paris. However, violence has been reported in the capital and in some other cities.
A group of 300 hooded youths threw projectiles at riot police which responded by tear gas and water canons, Paris prefecture said in a statement.
Four individuals were arrested on charges of insulting and throwing projectiles at police, it added.
Fresh protest is scheduled for Sept. 21, a day before the government adopts the new code.
