France’s labour unions looking to ratchet up pressure on President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservatives organised nationwide marches yesterday to protest the government’s plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

The protests are the third of their kind over the last month, but the first on a weekend – fanning organisers’ hopes for a big turnout. The others were accompanied by broad strikes, and each drew at least a million people.

About 220 demonstrations were planned throughout France yesterday. The main march in Paris was planned for the afternoon, and parade floats with huge union balloons gathered in eastern Paris.

A few marches – from Rennes in the northwest to Aix-en-Provence in the south –started earlier.

Conservative lawmakers have already pushed the plan through its first legislative hurdle: The National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, has adopted the Bill.

The Senate takes the measure up on Tuesday, and protesters are planning to gather there too as debate gets under way.

France is among many European governments looking to cut costs and chip away at some cherished but costly benefits that underpin the good life on the continent. A €110 billion ($140 billion) bailout for Greece has added to the sense of urgency this year.

French protesters are angry about the government’s plan to do away with the near-sacred promise of retirement at 60, forcing people to work until 62 because they are living longer. The aim is to make the money-draining pension system break even by 2018.

Government officials counter that they need to trim the pension system in order to save it, and have noted that other countries in Europe are raising their already-higher retirement ages.

The government has expressed willingness to alter some parts of the final language of the bill, but union leaders say their offers aren’t enough. (AP)