Trial alleges violence against executives

BOBIGNY, France — Fifteen current and former Air France workers went on trial Tuesday for alleged violence during a union protest last year at the airline’s headquarters that saw two company executives flee over a fence with their shirts ripped off.

The incident, caught on camera, was an extreme example of the often strained relations between French workers and their employers. The violence and this week’s trial come in the context of contested government efforts to reform national labor rules.

Dozens of Air France activists rallied in support of the defendants outside the courthouse in Bobigny, north of Paris, as the trial began.