Frustrated travelers are meeting transportation chaos around France for a second day on Friday, as unions dig in for what they hope is a protracted strike against government plans to redesign the national retirement system.
Most French trains were at a halt, including Paris subways, and traffic jams multiplied around the country.
Emboldened by the biggest outpouring of public anger since President Emmanuel Macron took office, unions are holding meetings Friday to plan their next steps.
A man stands on a deserted platform at the Gare de Lyon train station, Friday, Dec. 6, 2019 in Paris. Frustrated travelers are meeting transportation chaos around France for a second day, as unions dig in for what they hope is a protracted strike against government plans to redesign the national retirement system. (AP PhotoRafael Yaghobzadeh)
At least 800,000 people marched nationwide on Thursday, as strikes shuttered schools and some public services and disrupted hospitals and refineries. Police fired repeated volleys of tear gas and protesters set fires in Paris, but most demonstrators were peaceful.
Macron is determined to push through the changes to France's convoluted and relatively generous retirement system, seeing them as central to his plans to transform the French economy.
Opponents fear the changes to how and when workers can retire will threaten the hard-fought French way of life and worry that the plan will push them to work longer, for less retirement pay.
People run away from team gas during a demonstration in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. The Eiffel Tower shut down, France's high-speed trains stood still and tens of thousands of people marched through Paris and other cities Thursday, in a massive and sometimes chaotic outpouring of anger at the government's plan to overhaul the retirement system. (AP PhotoRafael Yaghobzadeh)
Macron's government has been negotiating with unions and others for months about the plan but won't release the details of the changes until next week.
A demonstrator walks past a fire during a demonstration in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. The Eiffel Tower shut down, France's high-speed trains stood still and tens of thousands of people marched through Paris and other cities Thursday, in a massive and sometimes chaotic outpouring of anger at the government's plan to overhaul the retirement system. (AP PhotoThibault Camus)
People stand next to the entrance of a metro station at the end of a demonstration in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. The Eiffel Tower shut down, France's high-speed trains stood still and tens of thousands of people marched through Paris and other cities Thursday, in a massive and sometimes chaotic outpouring of anger at the government's plan to overhaul the retirement system. (AP PhotoRafael Yaghobzadeh)