PARIS French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s reform raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 became law Wednesday, a victory for the conservative government and a defeat for unions that waged massive strikes and street protests to try to capsize the plan.

The law was published in the government’s Journal Official on Wednesday, meaning Sarkozy has signed it and it has formally gone into effect. The constitutional watchdog approved the plan a day earlier, and France’s parliament gave the measure its backing on Oct. 27.

Unions argued that retirement at 60 was a cornerstone of France’s generous social benefit system.