AKIPRESS.COM - Tens of thousands of striking rail workers, public sector staff and students have rallied across France against President Emmanuel Macron, Al Jazeera reported.

Demonstrators chanted and carried anti-Macron banners on Thursday in Paris and other cities such as Lyon and Marseille, but the scale of the protests appeared below expectations.

About 15,000 rallied in Paris, according to a count by crowd consultancy, Occurrence, while police estimated the number at 11,500. Hard-left CGT union, the main organiser, put the crowd at 50,000.

"We're here for public services. We're ready to continue the whole summer, even into September and October," Helene Tricre, a 25-year-old ticket inspector working for the SNCF railway, told AFP news agency at the Paris rally.

The peaceful march was marred by occasional clashes between police and far-left groups, many of them hooded and masked, who were seen smashing shop windows.