Unrest continue in France where pictured above a scene near the airport at Marseille. Workers and students are striking over proposed changes in the pension system that would rob benefits from the people.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
10/21 | 14:59 GMT
PARIS (AFP) - French protestors blocked key sites and clashed with police Thursday as unions called for further mass nationwide protests against President Nicolas Sarkozy's bid to raise the retirement age
With no fuel left in more than a quarter of petrol pumps, police are playing what unions dubbed a game of cat and mouse with protestors at refineries and fuel depots in a bid to prevent the country grinding to a halt.
"By taking the French economy, businesses and daily life hostage, you will destroy jobs," Sarkozy said, accusing trade union leaders of undermining France's fragile economic recovery.
"We can't be the only country in the world where, when there's a reform, a minority wants to block everyone else. That's not possible. That's not democracy," he declared, vowing tough action against rioters.
But the head of the powerful CGT union Bernard Thibault said that, faced with government "intransigence", there was "no reason to stop these protests" and "we recommend further action from next week."
"We have to continue with the most massive actions possible," he told RMC radio. Unions are to meet in the afternoon to decide on holding further mass rallies, possibly on Tuesday, a week after the last protest.
More than a million people took to the streets then, the sixth day of action since September, to protest the unpopular plan to raise minimum retirement from 60 to 62 and full pension payments from 65 to 67.
Workers in key sectors have been on strike for more than a week to protest the reform, which the government says is essential to reduce France's public deficit. Unions and political opponents say it penalises workers.
Youths have been fighting running battles with riot police in several cities, and on Thursday a schoolgirl was taken to hospital during clashes with police outside a high school in the central city of Poitiers.
Police in Lyon fired tear gas when a group of around 200 high school students tried to join a demonstration by CGT unionists. Students throw objects at riot police and plain clothes officers who tried to keep the groups apart.
Five youths were arrested in Nice after stones were thrown at police during a demonstration outside a high school.
Police have arrested children as young as 10 at the demonstrations, some of whom have been tried in juvenile courts.
Spontaneous mass demonstrations have started to spring up around the country, with at least 8,000 people taking to the streets of the southern city of Toulouse on Thursday. Unions put the figure at 35,000.
At least 4,000 high school students marched through downtown Paris, with student union leaders vowing to continue protesting despite half-term holidays which start on Friday.
Between 3,500 and 5,000 students took to the streets of the southwestern city of Bordeaux, carrying banners such as: "We would have burnt this reform but there's no petrol left."
Activists blocked access to Marseille airport for several hours before being cleared by police, causing tailbacks of several kilometres (miles).
Troops have also been sent in to clear rubbish from the streets of the Mediterranean port where collectors are on strike, while a similar strike in Toulouse intensified on Thursday, with workers blocking access to dumps.
The country's 12 oil refineries have been closed down by strikes, and Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said 14 of 219 fuel depots were currently blocked by protestors despite Sarkozy ordering police to keep fuel flowing.
Road transport federation FNTR said its members were struggling, and that even fuel trucks would soon be off the roads because of a lack of diesel in their own tanks unless, like emergency vehicles, they were given priority.
"If there's no decision... in terms of giving priority to utility vehicles, our vehicles will no longer be able to deliver fuel and we're heading for disaster," the FNTR's Jean-Paul Deneuville told AFP.
Transport Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told the Senate that 2,790 petrol stations had run out of fuel, out of 12,300 nationwide, down from 3,190 on Wednesday.
Three-quarters of express TGV trains were running in and out of Paris, although only half of provincial trains were operating.
The pension law has been passed by the National Assembly and is slowly working its way through the Senate, which could pass it on Friday.
France faces another day of strikes
Hundreds of passengers affected after protesters blockade Marseille airport as rallies against pension reform continue.
21 Oct 2010 08:37 GMT
Passengers racing to catch flights were forced to leave their cars and walk to Marseille airport
France is preparing for another day of confrontation as strikes continue ahead of a senate vote on changes to the pensions system.
Oil refinery and port workers were among 500 protesters that blocked access to Marseille airport on Thursday, the eighth consecutive day of demonstrations against a bill that would raise the minimum retirement ages by two years to 62 and the age fore receiving a full state pension to 67.
Police broke up the blockade after around 09:00 local time (08:00 GMT), but strikers warned they would return.
"We're not here to fight or get injured. There are women and children with us. We're leaving quietly, but
we'll go somewhere else. And when they go somewhere else, so will we," a union official told Reuters TV.
Staff from the L'Etang-de-Beurre refinery had been joined by airline and postal workers outside the airport in the southern port city.
The blockade caused massive traffic jams around the airport, forcing hundreds of passengers to leave their cars and walk at least one kilometre to the entrance.
Petrol shortages
On Wednesday, authorities forced open oil refineries blockaded by protesters to restore supplies to empty petrol stations nationwide.
About one-quarter of petrol stations had run dry, while strikes and protests brought transport systems to a halt.
The proposed reforms would include some of the following changes: under current rules, the French can retire at 60, providing they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years.
In addition, Retirees are entitled to a full pension when they are 65.
The planned reform would raise the minimum retirement age to 62 by 2018, the qualification to 41.5 years, and the pension age to 67.
Officials say the reforms would save about $95bn.
Trade unions, backed by large public support, are fighting the overhaul and will meet on Thursday to decide upon their next move. Students are planning a day of protests in Paris, the capital.
However, the government of Nicolas Sarkozy, the president, has said that it will not back down.
The main points of the pension bill have already passed through both houses of France's parliament and, following the next senate vote, could soon be signed into law.
The government says the pensions overhaul will prevent the pension system from going bankrupt as citizens live longer and a diminishing pool of young workers pay into the system.
It argues that 62 is among the lowest retirement ages in the world, that the French are living much longer than they used to and that the pension system is losing money.
Unions claim the move would erode France's near-sacred tradition of generous social benefits including long vacations, contracts that make it hard for employers to lay off workers and a state-subsidised health care system in favour of "American-style capitalism."
About 1.1 million people joined 260 protest marches across France on Tuesday, according to the interior ministry, though trade unions put the figure at three times that.
Source: Agencies
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