French strikes halt trains and schools as pension fight runs to Monday

France lurched to a near-standstill as a nationwide strike over Emmanuel Macron's pension overhaul shut schools, strangled public transport and sent thousands into the streets. Union leaders kicked off the walkout with a promise: they keep protesting until the president drops the plan. By the end of the day, the strike had been extended through Monday.

The travel chaos was brutal. Around 90 percent of high-speed TGV trains and regional lines were cancelled. Air France scrapped 30 percent of domestic flights and 15 percent of short-haul international routes, while metros and buses vanished from schedules across the country. Most schools closed or offered nothing but daycare, leaving parents to scramble or stay home from work.

Fuel is the next pressure point. The CGT union said workers had blocked seven of France's eight oil refineries, raising the spectre of shortages if the strike drags on. Thousands marched in cities nationwide ahead of two major demonstrations planned for Paris, where traffic ran unusually light as people simply took the day off.

Macron's office said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will lay out the framework for the reform next week, once negotiations with unions wrap up. Officials have conceded French workers will gradually have to work longer, but they've offered scant detail on how a new 'universal' system — one that sweeps away dozens of separate schemes — will change anyone's actual retirement.

Unions argue the overhaul will force millions to work longer or accept trimmed benefits. Macron, a centrist, treats it as the centrepiece of his broader drive to reshape the French economy. Whether that centrepiece survives depends on the next few days — and on whether the trains, refineries and schools start moving again.