The stalemate between Emmanuel Macron’s government and labor unions deepened as France headed into a third week of transport strikes over the president’s effort to reform the country’s pension system, threatening further turmoil during the busy holiday season.

While Macron has barreled through reforms of tax and labor laws, the current divide shows how deeply the French are wedded to their pension system. Reforming it is the crown jewel of Macron’s effort to modernize the country by merging 42 separate pension regimes and offering incentives to push back the age when workers retire to 64 from 62 in 2027.

Negotiations between the unions and the government have been suspended. Complicating matters, Macron’s point man for pension reform resigned on Monday after it was revealed that he failed to report multiple side jobs, which is forbidden by French law.

This compares with the first march on Dec. 5, which drew more than 800,000 people, the biggest turnout since Macron took office in May 2017. The second march on Dec. 10 had fewer than half that, according to the Interior Ministry. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told parliament Tuesday he was determined to push through the reforms.

“The objective is very simple, to guarantee the accounts will be balanced in 2027,” Philippe said. “If our social partners come up with a better proposition that guarantees equilibrium by then, we’ll take it.”

The prime minister has invited labor unions and employer organizations for talks on Wednesday, followed by a joint meeting on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported. CGT head Philippe Martinez said at the start of Tuesday’s march that the union would meet in the coming days to decide whether to halt the strikes over the Christmas period.