Police used tear gas against students and labor union activists who took to the streets of Nantes, a city in western France, to express their dissatisfaction with an unpopular labor reform, local media reported Thursday. Tear gas was deployed near the Gaspard-Monge lyceum in a northern district of Nantes to prevent mass disorder, including setting fire to rubbish bins and clashing with police, according to the Presse-Ocean newspaper. At least nine individuals have reportedly been arrested after clashing with police officers. In early March, youth organizations and unions called for mass protests across France over the reform package referred to as the El Khomri law. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced on March 14 that the country's labor reform bill had been revised. The new version no longer includes the introduction of a cap on damages in cases of unfair dismissal and the removal of barriers to firing employees on economic grounds.
