France chaos: Pension reform protesters invade BlackRock building, set Macron's favourite restaurants on fire

France has plunged into a serious crisis as dozens of trade unionists agitating against President Emmanuel Macron's pension overhaul on Thursday resorted to violent protests in Paris. They invaded investment firm BlackRock's office in central Paris. "Millions are protesting against the government. Now they have invaded and are occupying the office of BlackRock," Peter Imanuelsen, a Swedish journalist, said while sharing a video on Twitter.

The union action in the historical Centorial building near Paris' Grand Boulevards area, targetted BlackRock because of its private pension fund activity, protester Françoise Onic told Reuters.

"The government wants to throw away pensions, it wants to force people to fund their own retirement with private pension funds, but what we know is that only the rich will be able to benefit from such a setup," Onic, a school teacher, added.

CNN reported that about 100 people, including representatives of several labor unions, were on the ground floor of the building for about 10 minutes, chanting anti-reform slogans. BlackRock’s office is located on the third floor. 

Jerome Schmitt, spokesman for the French union SUD said the meaning of this action was quite simple. "We went to the headquarters of BlackRock to tell them: the money of workers, for our pensions, they are taking it," he told CNN affiliate BFM-TV.

Sky News reported that the protests broke out across France on the 11th day of national strikes with one of President Macron's favourite restaurants set on fire. Thousands of people gathered in cities to demonstrate against Macron's controversial pension reforms that have sparked months of public anger, the report said.

(With reports from agencies)