Tens of thousands of union activists and workers have gathered in central Rome today to protest against premier Mario Monti's pension reforms.

Activists say the government's proposals will leave an entire class of workers out of a job and without retirement pay.

The protest was organised by three unions seeking to draw attention to the tens of thousands of workers who took early buyouts, which were supposed to hold them over until official retirement age.

But now the age has been raised, leaving many facing the prospect of being both out of a job and too young to officially retire.

The labour ministry says 65,000 people fall into that category and that it is studying ways to make sure they are covered.

The state pension agency has put the number at 130,000, while unions say the number is in the hundreds of thousands.