BBC News with Nick Kelly

Hundreds of thousands of people across France have taken to the streets to demonstrate against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to raise the retirement age. Trade unions say nearly three million people turned out in scores of demonstrations, but the government say less than a million people took part. It's the third day of protests in the past month. Hugh Schofield reports.

The pension reform goes before the upper house of parliament, the Senate, on Tuesday with President Sarkozy insisting that its central provision, raising the minimum retirement age by two years to 62, is non-negotiable. According to the government, the only way that the French pension system can remain economically viable, given longer life expectancy, is that people work for more years. However, opponents, including the Socialist Party, say the changes are unjust and that the pension system can be preserved if higher taxes are levied on financial institutions and on the better-off.