French President Emmanuel Macron faced his most serious challenge to authority on Friday following violent unrest the previous night due to his decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. He argued that the change is necessary to prevent the system from going bankrupt.
Cars were set on fire during protests that involved thousands of French citizens. Labor unions urged workers to escalate their actions. The Paris ring road was briefly closed on Friday.
In this context, a broad alliance of France's main unions confirmed that they would continue to mobilize in an effort to reverse the changes.
