France hit by new wave of mass pension protests
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Oct 16, 2010, 4:37:44 PM10/16/10
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Perilous Times
16 October 2010 Last updated at 15:28 ET
France hit by new wave of mass pension protests
The BBC's Christian Fraser says President Sarkozy faces a testing few days
A fifth day of protests in France against proposed pension reforms has brought 825,000 people on to the streets, police say, although unions put the figure at 2.5m to 3m.
The government wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67.
Most oil refineries have been hit by strike action, causing fuel shortages at some airports and filling stations.
A further day of strikes is scheduled for Tuesday.
The pension reforms have already been approved by the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.
The upper house, the Senate, has endorsed the key articles on raising the retirement age, and is due to vote on the full text on Wednesday.
Public and private sector workers took part in strikes on Saturday across France, in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille and Toulouse. Unions had called for more than 200 marches nationwide.
"We are not here to bring France to its knees and create a shortage, we are here to make ourselves heard," Christian Coste, of the CGT trade union, told the Associated Press.
About 30 people were arrested in central Paris, including anarchists and anti-capitalist demonstrators.
They threw flares, set bins on fire and scuffled with police.
Panic buying
All 12 refineries in mainland France have been affected by strike action. Ten have shut down or are in the process of closing. A number of fuel depots have been blockaded.
I am sure that we will unblock the situation through intelligent social dialogue” - Christine Lagarde Economy Minister
The transport ministry had warned that France's main airport, Charles de Gaulle, had enough fuel to last only a few days and that pipelines to the capital's airports were working only "intermittently".
However, the Agence France-Presse news agency quoted an official late on Saturday as saying the pipelines were once again up and running.
Economy Minister Christine Lagarde had earlier said there was "no reason to panic over this".
"I am sure that we will unblock the situation through intelligent social dialogue," Ms Lagarde said.
France also has a strategic fuel reserve which holds up to three months of supplies.
However, some 10% of filling stations have run out of petrol and panic buying has broken out in some areas.
Pension protest numbers
* Tuesday 12 October: 1.2m (police) - 3.5m (unions)
* Saturday 2 October: 899.000 - 3m
* Thursday 23 September: 997,000 - 3m
* Tuesday 7 September: 1.2m - 2.7m
In Marseille, rubbish is piling up around the port amid a strike by bin collectors that has now lasted four days.
More than 300 high schools have been affected by strikes and blockades - about one in 15 across the country - as students have joined the pension protests in the past week.
Lorry drivers will decide on Monday whether to join the strikes.
More than one million people took to the streets in the previous national protest on Tuesday, according to police. Trade unions organisers said 3.5m had taken part.
The last weekend day of demonstrations was Saturday 2 October, when the numbers were about 900,000 according to police and 3m according to unions.
Seventy percent of people polled this week think the sporadic strikes will build into a national protest movement like the one in 1995, and over half said they would support it.
In 1995, three continual weeks of strikes by public and transport workers forced the government to abandon plans for economic reforms, including raising the retirement age.
16 October 2010 Last updated at 15:28 ET
France hit by new wave of mass pension protests
The BBC's Christian Fraser says President Sarkozy faces a testing few days
A fifth day of protests in France against proposed pension reforms has brought 825,000 people on to the streets, police say, although unions put the figure at 2.5m to 3m.
The government wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67.
Most oil refineries have been hit by strike action, causing fuel shortages at some airports and filling stations.
A further day of strikes is scheduled for Tuesday.
The pension reforms have already been approved by the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.
The upper house, the Senate, has endorsed the key articles on raising the retirement age, and is due to vote on the full text on Wednesday.
Public and private sector workers took part in strikes on Saturday across France, in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille and Toulouse. Unions had called for more than 200 marches nationwide.
"We are not here to bring France to its knees and create a shortage, we are here to make ourselves heard," Christian Coste, of the CGT trade union, told the Associated Press.
About 30 people were arrested in central Paris, including anarchists and anti-capitalist demonstrators.
They threw flares, set bins on fire and scuffled with police.
Panic buying
All 12 refineries in mainland France have been affected by strike action. Ten have shut down or are in the process of closing. A number of fuel depots have been blockaded.
I am sure that we will unblock the situation through intelligent social dialogue” - Christine Lagarde Economy Minister
The transport ministry had warned that France's main airport, Charles de Gaulle, had enough fuel to last only a few days and that pipelines to the capital's airports were working only "intermittently".
However, the Agence France-Presse news agency quoted an official late on Saturday as saying the pipelines were once again up and running.
Economy Minister Christine Lagarde had earlier said there was "no reason to panic over this".
"I am sure that we will unblock the situation through intelligent social dialogue," Ms Lagarde said.
France also has a strategic fuel reserve which holds up to three months of supplies.
However, some 10% of filling stations have run out of petrol and panic buying has broken out in some areas.
Pension protest numbers
* Tuesday 12 October: 1.2m (police) - 3.5m (unions)
* Saturday 2 October: 899.000 - 3m
* Thursday 23 September: 997,000 - 3m
* Tuesday 7 September: 1.2m - 2.7m
In Marseille, rubbish is piling up around the port amid a strike by bin collectors that has now lasted four days.
More than 300 high schools have been affected by strikes and blockades - about one in 15 across the country - as students have joined the pension protests in the past week.
Lorry drivers will decide on Monday whether to join the strikes.
More than one million people took to the streets in the previous national protest on Tuesday, according to police. Trade unions organisers said 3.5m had taken part.
The last weekend day of demonstrations was Saturday 2 October, when the numbers were about 900,000 according to police and 3m according to unions.
Seventy percent of people polled this week think the sporadic strikes will build into a national protest movement like the one in 1995, and over half said they would support it.
In 1995, three continual weeks of strikes by public and transport workers forced the government to abandon plans for economic reforms, including raising the retirement age.
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