Traffic jams cripple Paris as pension strikes halt trains

Paris commuters inched to work Monday through massive traffic jams as strikes against retirement plan changes halted trains and subways for a fifth straight day.

French President Emmanuel Macron girded for one of the toughest weeks of his presidency as his government prepares to present a redesign of the convoluted French pension system.

He sees melding 42 different retirement plans into one as delivering a more equitable, financially sustainable system.

Unions see the move as an attack on the French way of life even though Macron's government is not expected to change the current retirement age of 62.

Citing safety risks, the SNCF national rail network warned travelers to stay home or use "alternative means of locomotion" to get around Monday instead of thronging platforms in hopes of getting the few available trains running.

As a result, the national road authority reported more than 600 kilometers (360 miles) of traffic problems at morning rush hour around the Paris region up from 150 kilometers (90 miles) on an average day.

The road traffic was worse Monday than when the strike started last week, because many French employees managed to work from home or take a day off then. But that's increasingly difficult as the strike wears on.

Gabriella Micuci from the Paris suburb of Le Bourget walked several kilometers (miles) in cold rain and then squeezed into a packed subway on one of the two automated Metro lines that don't need drivers. Other commuters used shared bikes or electric scooters.

"I left home earlier than usual, I thought I was going to be able to catch an early train but not at all," Micuci told The Associated Press.

"It's a real catastrophe, people are becoming even more violent, they are pushing you."