France faces chaos as many unions continue to strike today, demanding that President Macron remove the pension reform.

Today, dozens of trains and flights have been canceled; many schools were also closed and four of the eight French refineries were shut down. Railway service operator SNCF announced a temporary suspension of weekend ticket sales when 90% of the TGV high-speed train was canceled.

Half of Eurostar's trains between Paris and London have been canceled, and only two of Thalys's three trains operating in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam continue.

"I was supposed to board the train to Metz (northeastern France). I booked three days ago but it was canceled and I didn't receive any information," passenger Rachel Pallamidessi said as she stood at a station. deserted in the city of Strasbourg.

The strike is seen as the latest challenge for President Macron, after months of protests by teachers, hospital staff, police and firefighters, marking a year of social unrest triggered. activated by the "yellow vest" movement.

Unions say Macron's new proposal on the pension system will force millions of workers in both the public and private sectors to work beyond the official retirement age of 62.

The government will release details of the plan next week but has said everyone will have to work longer to maintain a pension system that could run a deficit of $ 19 billion by 2025.

The French Interior Ministry said at least 800,000 people took part in marches around the country on December 5. This is considered one of the biggest union protests in nearly a decade. Strikes and protests have been called on to continue on Dec. 10, the day after union leaders met government officials on pension reform.

"There have been a lot of strikes, now we need more people to influence these decisions," said Philippe Martinez, member of the CGT union.

Most of the protests on Thursday were peaceful, but police had to fire tear gas to disperse dozens of black-shirted protesters whose behavior was like smashing windows and throwing bricks.

Dozens were arrested and three journalists were injured, including a Turkish journalist believed to have been attacked in the face. Clashes also broke out in Nantes, Lyon and other cities.

France's pension reform proposal will raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. French workers will be entitled to full pensions if they reach this age or will lose 5% of pensions for each year of early retirement.