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2010-10-19 07:39:59
The final Senate vote on pension reform could be delayed, says the BBC's David
Chazan
France is enduring a sixth national day of strikes and protests over plans to
reform the country's pension system.
Mass marches are planned across France while strikes disrupt air travel, trains
and schools, and an ongoing refinery blockade hits oil supplies.
The government wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full
state pension age from 65 to 67.
President Nicolas Sarkozy insists he will press ahead with pension reforms
despite the growing strike movement.
Mr Sarkozy says reform is "essential" and "France is committed to it".
But with the Senate due for a final vote this week, protests are planned in
more than 200 towns and cities.
Continue reading the main story
Start Quote
We shouldn't think it's still acceptable to stop working at 60 years old - we
should work untll 65
End Quote Frederic Deraed Insurance worker
The plans are widely unpopular with the public and protests on Monday turned
violent in some areas.
Left-wing senators have submitted hundreds amendments in an attempt to delay
the vote. The bill was initially expected to be passed on Wednesday, but some
reports say the debate could last until the weekend.
Fuel crisis
Tuesday will be France's sixth national day of protests since early September.
In Paris, marchers will set off from the Place d'Italie at about 1330 local
time (1130 GMT). A high turnout is expected following the success of the last
weekday protest.
Organisers said an estimated 3.5 million people marched a week ago, setting a
new record. Police put the figure at 1.2 million.
Renewed strikes and an ongoing week-long blockade of France's 12 oil refineries
are expected to hit transport networks as well as private fuel supplies.
Half of flights in and out of Paris's Orly airport have been cancelled and 30%
of flights at other airports have been affected.
Train operator SNCF said it expected 60% of trains to run on Tuesday, the Le
Monde newspaper reported, with Metro and local trains around Paris also
expected to keep some services running.
Despite the disruption, one opinion poll on Monday suggested that 71% of those
surveyed supported the strikers, despite the increasing effect on people's
lives.
Among those travelling as the strikes began, opinion was more mixed.
"We shouldn't think it's still acceptable to stop working at 60 years old - we
should work until 65. Like other European countries we have to work longer than
60 years," insurance worker Frederic Deraed told the BBC's Matthew Price.
"It's completely useless," said housewife Nadine Gestas.
"We can't pay the pensions and we can't avoid increasing the age of retirement.
Every country in Europe is raising the age of retirement."
But Franck Wadteau, team leader at a local council, called the strikes
justified.
"This is a massive change for public service workers. Yes, there is money to be
saved, but it shouldn't be like this. There are other ways of doing things."
Crisis cabinet
The week-long fuel crisis has added a new dimension to France's public
discontent.
One in four supermarket petrol stations are said to have run dry or are on the
verge of closing.
Continue reading the main story
Pension protest numbers
Oil company Exxon Mobil has described the situation as "critical". Diesel
supplies around Paris or western Nantes would be scarce, a spokeswoman said.
Severe shortages have been reported in Brittany in north-west France and the
International Energy Agency says that France has begun tapping into its
three-month emergency fuel reserves.
Panic-buying has been blamed for a 50% increase in fuel sales.
Lorry drivers joined the protests on Monday, staging a go-slow on motorways
around several cities.
Dozens of oil tankers are anchored off the coast of Marseille because of a
strike at two Mediterranean oil ports and, inside the city, rubbish has piled
up because of a strike by refuse collectors.
Mr Sarkozy has ordered key ministers to form a crisis cabinet with the role of
ensuring the continuity of fuel supplies.
The head of the French Petrol Industries Association, Jean-Louis Schilansky,
has said fuel shortages are not yet at crisis point.
At the scene
image of Christian Fraser Christian Fraser BBC News, Paris
In the face of hugely unpopular reform the unions and picket lines refuse to
give way.
Post offices, schools and trains will all be affected. Airlines that use the
Paris airports have been told to cut their services by 50%.
No matter how insistent the government is that crisis can be avoided, the
pictures from the forecourts tell a different story.
There are queues forming across France and already a quarter of the supermarket
service stations are out of fuel or running dry.
The oil refineries are all closed and now the oil companies are dipping into
emergency supplies.
The government says there is plenty of reserve fuel to last for some time but
this crisis has its own momentum.