PARIS: CGT Union leader Philippe Martinez, left, and FO union leader Jean-Claude Mailly leave after a meeting with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Wednesday.-AP

PARIS: Amid fears of new violence, thousands of protesters were gathering in Paris, closely watched by police after the demonstration was authorized under a tense compromise between unions and the government.

Unions are holding a short march yesterday around the Bastille plaza to protest government plans to make workweeks longer and layoffs easier. Similar protests against the legislation in recent months have degenerated into clashes between riot police and radicals.

Police threatened to ban yesterday's march, but the government agreed to let it proceed in a restricted area. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned that "no violence will be tolerated."

Police were systematically checking the bags of protesters before letting them enter the area. Johanna Primevert, Paris police's spokeswoman, told BFM television that 18 people had been arrested, most of them for possession of objects that could be used as projectiles.

Authorities have ordered removal of some street furniture and protection of bus shelters to avoid potential damage. Some of the boats docked in a port between the Seine and the Bastille plaza have been moved on Wednesday.

Police have said some union members participated in and cheered recent violence. But the head of the influential CGT union, Philippe Martinez, insisted on BFM television yesterday that "We are not accomplices of the troublemakers. We condemn them firmly."

Other protests were organized yesterday in France's major cities to oppose the government's labor legislation that is currently debated in the Senate.-AP