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		</div><p>Rail workers, teachers, doctors, lawyers and others have joined a nationwide day of protests and strikes in France to denounce President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to overhaul the pension system.</p>
<p>As the government and unions pushed on with crucial negotiations about the changes, street protests were staged in Paris and other French cities, with railway strikes entering their sixth week.</p>
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<p>The Paris march started from the Republique square in central Paris amid a large police presence.</p>
<p>The Elysee presidential palace was barricaded as protesters were due to head towards the area.</p>
<figure id="attachment_147561" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-147561" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-147561" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/AF07466B-DC54-4E22-A029-5C9375701735.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-147561" class="wp-caption-text">Strikers march on the Place de la Bastille during a demonstration in Paris</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Eiffel Tower was shut as employees joined the protest movement.</p>
<p>Paris metro traffic was severely disrupted, except for two automatic lines running normally.</p>
<p>The national rail company SNCF said about one third of workers were on strike on Thursday.</p>
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<p>Three high-speed trains out of five were running.</p>
<p>Regional trains were also affected and many schools were closed.</p>
<p>Unions have also called on workers to block road access to major ports, including in the southern city of Marseille.<br />
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<p>Philippe Martinez, head of hard-left CGT union, said “there are many people on strike” yet the government does not appear “willing to discuss and take into account the opinion of unions”.</p>
<p>Talks between the government and labour unions resumed on Tuesday but no compromise has been reached yet.</p>
<p>A new round of negotiations focusing on the financing of the new pension system is scheduled for Friday.</p>
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<p>Mr Macron has asked his government to find a quick compromise with reform-minded unions.</p>
<p>So far, the government is sticking to its plan to raise the full retirement age from 62 to 64, the most criticised part of the proposals.</p>
<p>The changes aim to unify France’s 42 different pension schemes into a single one.</p>
<p>Under specific pension schemes, some people, like railway workers, are allowed to take early retirement.</p>
<p>Others, like lawyers and doctors, pay less tax.</p>
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<p>Unions fear people will have to work longer for lower pensions, and polls suggest at least half of French people still support the strikes.</p>
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