FRANCE, Paris, 2023/3/28. March from République to Nation. Day of strikes and protests with several hundred thousand participants in Paris. President E. Macron remains defiant over a controversial pensions reform that has sparked turmoil in the country. The day of action called by unions is the tenth such nationwide call since protests started in mid-January against the legislation which includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. Nearly two weeks after Macron and PM E.Borne rammed the new pensions law through Parliament using Article 49.3 of the French Constitution allowing the adoption of legislation without a formal vote in Parliament, unions vowed no let-up in mass protests to get the law withdrawn. After violent clashes between protesters and security forces as tensions erupted into pitched battles on the streets of Paris at previous demonstrations Interior Minister G. Darmanin said 5,500 members of the security forces were deployed in Paris alone. There has been increasing complaints about disproportionate use of force.