This Tuesday people took to the streets across France in protest over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to reform the country’s pension system. According to the interior ministry, just under 1.3 million protestors joined the demonstrations, an increase from the first cross-union strike day on January 19. United in opposition to the government’s proposal to raise the minimum retirement age to sixty-four, France’s union organizations claim that 2.8 million people participated in marches across the country, as the opposition movement appears to be gaining steam.

Macron’s ministers and surrogates argue that the financial sustainability of the pension system requires a lengthening of the careers of French workers. The plan, however, is widely unpopular according to opinion polls: over 70 percent of French people are said to oppose the reform, according to Elabe and YouGov polls released this week. The economic argument for the government’s plan has likewise been criticized by the French state’s own consultation on the retirement system, the Conseil d’orientation des retraites. Kept on the sidelines during the government’s preparation of the legislation, French unions claim that the changes further erode the right to a dignified retirement.

Though it’s looking increasingly risky, Macron still has a feasible path to win passage of the bill. The parties of the left-wing NUPES alliance (Nouvelle Union Populaire Écologique et Sociale) and Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National are expected to oppose the bill, as Macron’s minority government will have to rely on votes of the Républicains. Yet, MPs in this center-right party sympathetic to the government’s proposal — and even some members of the Macronist bloc — could withdraw their support based on their reading of the volatile political situation. Defections like this would depend on the ability of a broad social movement to gain traction in the coming weeks, as the government resorts to a special legislative path to shorten parliament’s examination of the package.