Videos: More than a million French workers protest economic conditions

Billed as a “Black Thursday,” the nationwide day of action caused less transport disruption than expected but the strike was well supported, with a quarter of France’s five million public sector workers downing tools.

The demonstrations were the biggest since the right-wing president arrived in office in May 2007, and came amid mounting public anger at his policies, in particular his plans to cut public sector jobs.

Marchers thronged the boulevards of eastern Paris — 300,000 according to the organisers, 65,000 according to police, but over 1 million as part of the strike — to demand protection for jobs threatened by the global slowdown.

“It’s not up to workers to pay for the bankers,” read one banner. “The bosses caused the crisis, let them pay for it!” said another, while a third declared: “Hands off our public services!”

Protesters marched peacefully from the Place de la Bastille in the east of the city to the Place de l’Opera in the west, where skirmishes erupted between dozens of bottle-throwing youths and police in riot gear.

Officers repeatedly baton-charged a group of young men who tried to peel away from the demonstration and march towards Sarkozy’s official residence, the Elysee Palace, burning dustbins and smashing street furniture.

The demonstrators were tear-gassed and pushed back into streets lined with cinemas and restaurants, where they attempted to set up a road-block of burning bins and overturned at least one car and set it alight.