Police say about 85,000 people took to the streets of Paris to demonstrateFrench unions have staged their biggest strikes and demonstrations so far in opposition to the government's pension reform plans.Unions put the national turnout on the third day of protests this month at 3.5m, while police said 1.2m people were involved.The cabinet wants to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, and from 65 to 67 for a full state pension.Some unions say they might extend or continue the strikes.On Tuesday evening, strikers in the RATP Paris transport network voted to renew their action.Rolling strikes possible Workers in the SNCF national rail company and several other sectors are due to vote on Wednesday on whether to strike for a second day.Continue reading the main story Related storiesIn pictures: France on strikeGlobal pensions conundrumFrance's bitter war over pensionsIf there are rolling strikes they would be organised by serving notice of 24-hour stoppages and renewed each day before they expired.One cement worker demonstrator in the central town of Angouleme told Agence France-Presse: "I'm prepared to extend the strike. I started working at 17 and now I'm 50, and I'm starting to get really fed up with it."Transport was badly affected on Tuesday. Half of all flights to and from Paris Orly airport, and one in three at Charles de Gaulle and Beauvais were cancelled for Tuesday.Just one in three TGV high-speed trains was running. Although Eurostar says its service between Paris and London has been operating normally."This is one of the last chances to make the government back down," said Francois Chereque, the leader of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). "The large majority of employees cannot afford to pay for repeated days of strikes." Labour Minister Hewitt blog: Battle of willsIn Paris, hundreds of tourists were ushered away from the Eiffel Tower after staff joined the strike in early afternoon. Students and school pupils also joined the movement for the first time, with some barricading the entrances to their schools with plastic bins.
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