Dialogue not over, French PM says as workers protest pension reform

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech next to French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne during the second plenary session of the Conseil National de la Refondation (CNR - National Council for Refoundation) at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool

PARIS (Reuters) - Bridges between President Emmanuel Macron's government and labour unions are not burned despite nationwide strike plans, the French prime minister said on Saturday as her government battles to tame public anger over an unpopular pensions reform.

Elisabeth Borne earlier this week broke the news to the French that they will have to work two years longer, to age 64, before receiving the state pension, if the reform - one of Macron's main political promises - is adopted by parliament.