France, Jan. 19 -- More than a hundred French personalities -including 2022 Nobel literature laureate Annie Ernaux -have denounced President Emmanuel Macron's "terribly unequal" pensions reform. Their petition comes as unions combineforces fornationwide protests and strikes against the plan on Thursday.

Signatories to an opinion piece published Wednesday inthe leftwing weekly Politis say they are determined to fight what they call an"archaic"project to raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase the level of pension contributions.

"The reform will hurt most those who work in the most difficult and tiring jobs -both physically and psychologically -and who have less chance of enjoying a peaceful retirement and imagining a ...