Sputnik comes live from Paris, where demonstrators are rallying to demand higher wages, for the retirement age to be lowered to 60 and for encroachments on the right to strike to be lifted.
Four leading French trade unions - the General Confederation of Labor, the General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force, the Federation Syndicale Unitaire, and the Solidaires - announced the strike.
On Sunday, thousands of protesters gathered in Paris to take part in a march against rocketing living costs and the impotence of the government.
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