French train drivers, teachers and refinery workers were among those who walked off their jobs on Thursday in a nationwide day of strikes against government plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64. The strikes, and protests expected across the country, are a major test for President Emmanuel Macron, who says his pension reform plan, which opinion polls show is hugely unpopular, is vital to ensure the system does not go bust.

The challenge for unions is to transform opposition to the reform - and anger over a cost-of-living crisis - into a mass social protest which would eventually force the government to change tack. “We need a lot of people to join the protests,” Laurent Berger, head of France’s largest union, CFDT, told BFM TV. “People are against this reform ... we need to show it (in the streets).”