French president Emmanuel Macron has tried to calm nationwide tensions and salvage support for his overhaul of the country’s retirement system, as France faced day 41 of crippling strikes.
Clutches of union activists gathered in Paris and other cities to demand that the government scrap the pension reform altogether.
The plan’s toughest opponents were unmoved by the prime minister Edouard Philippe’s unexpected weekend decision to suspend a central measure: raising the full pension eligibility age from 62 to 64.
Struggling to save face and prevent new protest violence as his signature reform falters, Mr Macron called for calm on Tuesday and tried to show that he has heard protesters’ concerns.
“We never like change,” he said. “There were always strikes, and there always will be on this subject.”
The strikes have hobbled public transport and disrupted schools, hospitals, courthouses and even opera houses.
While the number of striking workers has diminished since the movement began on December 5, several trains and Paris subways were still halted on Tuesday.
Mr Macron insisted that the current system of more than 42 special pension regimes, created after the Second World War, has become unfair and ill-suited to the current economy.
The government also says it is too costly in a country with long life expectancy.
Mr Macron called for “calm and clarity” and a promised better explanation of what the changes will mean for different French workers.
As if bracing for new protest violence, he denounced extremist protesters who hijack demonstrations to attack police.
But he also acknowledged growing concerns about police violence, and called on the interior minister to improve police “ethics and controls” to prevent abuses.
