PARIS, May 3: Some 200 to 300 immigrant workers occupied the Paris office of France’s leading labour union on Saturday to try to win support for their fight to obtain residency permits, a union official said.

The peaceful occupation of the departmental office of the Confederation generale du travail (CGT) started early on Friday afternoon and is likely to continue throughout the weekend, CGT union member Patrick Picard said.

The sit-in follows an attempt by representatives of illegal immigrants to file 1,000 work permit applications at the Paris prefecture, Picard said, adding the forms had been refused.—Reuters