Unrelenting transport chaos as French strike bites

Public transport in France was crippled for a fourth day Sunday as the government prepared to respond to anger over pension reforms that brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets as workers embarked on open-ended protest.

President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and senior cabinet ministers are scheduled to hold a "working meeting" late Sunday to discuss a government project which the country's powerful labour unions claim will force many to work longer for a smaller retirement payout.

The strikes, which began Thursday over plans for a single, points-based pension scheme, recalled the winter of 1995, when three weeks of stoppages forced a social policy U-turn by the then-government.

Macron's move to modernise France's retirement system is part of an election pledge to put the country on a solid financial footing -- a mission that calls for painful changes in a country where many people have seen their spending power decline.

The biggest labour unrest in years ...