More than one million French workers have taken to the streets to protest against austerity measures planned by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

超过一百万法国工人走上街头抗议萨科奇政府推行的紧缩措施。

The rallies came as a 24-hour national strike disrupted flight and rail services, and closed schools.

Activists¹ are angry at government plans to overhaul²（详细检查） pensions and raise the retirement³ age from 60 to 62.

Union leaders say more strikes and protests are possible if the government fails to give an adequate（充足的，适当的） response.

"If they don't respond and they don't pay heed⁴（注意，留心） , there'll be a follow up, and nothing is ruled out at this stage," Bernard Thibault, leader of the large CGT union, told a rally in Paris.

France's retirement age is lower than many countries in Europe, but analysts⁵ say the issue is polarising（极化） politics in the country.

Labour Minister Eric Woerth introduced the pensions bill to the National Assembly, warning of dire⁷ consequences if it did not pass.

"If we don't modify our pension plan, then tomorrow there will be no money left to pay the French pensions," he told parliamentarians.

Commuter⁸ woe⁶

Under current rules, both men and women in France can retire at 60, providing they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years - although they are not entitled to a full pension until they are 65.

The government says it will save 70bn euros (£58bn) by raising the retirement age to 62 by 2018, the qualification to 41.5 years, and the pension age to 67.

President Nicolas Sarkozy says reforms are needed to cope with an ageing population and the country's budget deficit⁹.

The government is also looking to find 100bn euros of savings¹⁰ in three years, and is planning cuts in the civil sector¹¹.

Some secondary-school teachers went on strike on Monday, protesting against plans to cut 7,000 jobs in education.

State railway operator SNCF said fewer than half of its TGV high-speed services were running, and there was a greatly reduced service on many other lines.

Eurostar said its trains between France and London would operate normally.

Some air-traffic controllers walked out, forcing the cancellation¹² or delay of about a quarter of flights from Paris airports.

Air France said it was operating all of its long-haul flights as planned, but short and medium-haul flights had been affected¹³.