The boss of the CGT trade union on Friday vowed to press on with a strike that has crippled transport in Paris for the past three weeks and is now the longest-lasting such action since the 1980s.

Now on day 23, the union stoppage over pension reforms is longer than the 22-day strike of the winter of 1995 against welfare cutbacks which forced the then government into a U-turn, AFP said. The longest transport strike in France lasted for 28 days, also over Christmas, in 1986 and early 1987.

“It’s a strong movement and still supported by public opinion,” according to Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the CGT union.

The unions are demanding that the government drops a plan to merge 42 existing pension schemes into a single, points-based system.