Mr. Philippe, addressing the fears of many workers, promised that under the new plan, retirees’ “quality of life will not go down.”

For Paris and its region, Tuesday was another day of transport chaos, the sixth in a row, as rail and subway workers continued striking. There were hundreds of miles of traffic jams, streets in Paris were thick with cars, and desperate commuters crammed into the few packed trains available.

On the Rue des Archives in the Marais, Yateeha Krishan, a 27-year-old from Sri Lanka, had finished her morning shift cleaning offices and was wondering how to get home to her suburb northeast of Paris. Ms. Krishan, who had arrived at work 45 minutes late, is not paid if she does not make it in, she said.

The economic effect of the strike is already visible.