Thousands across France protest govt. bid to overhaul pensions

Protesters again poured into streets across France on Friday hoping to derail a hotly contested pension overhaul, whose fate will soon be in the hands of lawmakers after weeks of crippling transport strikes.

Union leaders insist they have widespread public support for what has become their biggest show of strength in decades, against a reform they say will force millions of people to work longer before retiring.

They admit it is a make-or-break moment for the protests launched on December 5, which have seen train and metro drivers, as well as teachers, hospital workers and others, walk off the job.

On Friday, the government unveiled its final version of the draft law, which is expected to easily clear parliament where President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party holds a majority.

"This government is arrogant, it's not taking into account what we're saying, it's no longer listening to unions," said Cecile Chamignon, 40, a civil servant protesting in Lyon.

Some 80,000 people marched in dozens of cities across France, according to police estimates, not including the tens of thousands who demonstrated in the capital Paris , gathering a stone's throw from the presidential palace.

MG