The battle over the French government’s pension reforms moved from the street to parliament on Monday, with the opposition vowing to torpedo an overhaul that sparked weeks of strikes and protests. Leftist unions are up in arms over President Emmanuel Macron’s bid to fuse France’s 42 different retirement schemes into a single points-based system.

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Public transport workers walked off the job for a month and a half in December and January, causing travel misery for millions, particularly in the Paris area. The government argues that the changes are necessary to make the system fairer for all, but critics say they will force most French people to work longer for smaller payouts. Labour leaders called for renewed strike action on Monday to coincide with the start of two weeks of parliamentary debates.

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But there were only minor disruptions to the Paris metro and regional trains were running as normal. The start of the debate comes as Macron’s centrist party reels from a sex scandal that toppled its candidate for mayor of Paris in next month’s municipal election, Benjamin Griveaux. Griveaux, a close Macron ally and former government spokesman, pulled out of the running over a leaked video showing a man presented as the 42-year-old politician masturbating. To replace him, the government chose Health Minister Agnes Buzyn, one of the most prominent defenders of the pension reform, which will now be steered through parliament by her successor Olivier Veran.

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