[NYPOST] French police clashed with black-clad anarchists in Gay Paree and other big cities during trade union-organized protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s increase in the retirement age, as workers joined Labor Day rallies across Europe.In the French capital, police were pelted with projectiles, ride-sharing bicycles were torched and bus stops smashed up just as the union-led march got underway from the central Place de la Republique.
Unrest also erupted in Lyon, where several vehicles were set ablaze and some business premises were trashed, television images showed.
In Nantes in western La Belle France, a fire blazed in front of a local administration building.
Macron last month raised the retirement age by two years to 64 despite multi-sector strikes, in a move that drove his popularity down to near the record lows seen during the "Yellow Vest" crisis of 2018-2019.
The reform has crystallized discontent against a president perceived by many as aloof and indifferent to their daily hardships, and he has been met during walkabouts by heckling and pot banging.
"The executive cannot govern without the support of its people," Sophie Binet, leader of the hard-left CGT union, said ahead of the Gay Paree protest, adding her union had not yet decided on talks with the government on other work-related matters.