French president Emmanuel Macron launched a counter offensive on the eve of a tenth day of mass demonstrations against his government's pension reform, which would increase the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Macron convened a phalanx of his most trusted advisors and ministers, as criticism rained down on his administration over allegations of police brutality and the foolhardy fervour of trying to implement his flagship policy.
Between 650,000 and 900,000 people are expected to march throughout France against the reform plans on Tuesday. Authorities predict between 70,000 and 100,000 in Paris.
One person at the meeting, who asked to remain anonymous, said Macron had called for the lines of communications with the trades unions to remain open.
On Monday, Laurent Berger, the leader of the CFDT trade union, urged the government to make a significant gesture on pension reform.
"The government is going to have to make a major effort on the retirement question," Berger said on national television. "They are going to have to say: 'The increase of the working life to 64 years is off the table.'
"I am worried about the situation," Berger added. "But I'm telling the president and the Prime Minister that there is a way out, and that it requires an effort on their part."
Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC union, said: "We want to discuss the subject of pensions, and in particular the method of financing, and therefore the postponement of the legal age.
"The other subjects are important, and it would have been good to discuss them before making this reform and not afterwards. But we can't move on to other subjects until we have settled the one that is holding us up at the moment."
Travel disruptions
According to the Paris public transport operator RATP, metros and suburban trains will be badly disrupted on Tuesday.
About one third of junior school teachers have announced their intention to strike.
Rubbish collectors in the capital are continuing their strike, with nearly 8,000 tonnes of garbage still piled up in the streets.
France's civil aviation authority has told airlines at Orly airport in Paris, as well as the Marseille, Bordeaux and Toulouse airports, to cancel 20 percent of flights on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
During his meeting at the Elysée Palace, Macron is said to have accused the opposition France Unbowed party of trying to create trouble.
Police have come under fire over the way some of the protests have been handled.
The Council of Europe said on Friday that peaceful protesters and journalists had to be protected from police violence and arbitrary arrest.
On Sunday the IGPN, the internal affairs unit of the French police, said it had launched 17 investigations into incidents since the protests began.
