The French government’s contested labour reform bill finally reached Parliament on Tuesday, having sparked two months of mass protests, but neither employers nor unions are happy.

The government said the bill is designed to unlock France’s rigid labour market and cut stubbornly high unemployment of around 10 per cent — the issue that has dogged Socialist President Francois Hollande’s four years in power.

But since March 9, hundreds of thousands of people in cities around France have demonstrated against what they see as a reform weighed in favour of businesses.

With 12 months until the presidential election, the bill is likely to be the last of its size to be introduced by Mr Hollande’s government.

It also has the unenviable record of being the reform that has brought the most Socialist supporters onto the streets during Mr Hollande’s rocky time in office.

On Tuesday, as legislators begin to examine the bill, unions and student organisations held another demonstration outside the Parliament building.

Unions fear it will erode the cherished rights of workers on full-time contracts, while student organisations — who have been at the forefront of the protests — believe it will fail to create “real” jobs for young people. In response, the government has watered down some of its original proposals.