France entered its sixth day of nationwide strikes and protests in two months on Tuesday as trade unions sought to force President Nicolas Sarkozy to abandon a deeply unpopular pension reform raising the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60.
A total of 260 protests were planned across the country on Tuesday, news channel France 24 said. Striking oil refinery workers have shut off fuel supplies and some 2,500 of the nation's 12,500 petrol stations have run out of fuel. There are long queues of vehicles in front of stations that are still open.
The social and industrial unrest has crippled the country. Scores of flights were cancelled on Tuesday and railway operator SNCF expects to run only half its scheduled TGV high-speed services. Local public transport was brought to a standstill in many cities apart from Paris, where Metro and bus services were reported to be normal.
The Education Ministry said lessons had been halted by protesting students in 379 schools. In the Paris suburb of Nanterre, high school students threw stones at police and set fire to a car on Tuesday. Police responded with tear gas and cordoned off the area. Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said the police would take tough action against rioters.
Turning Violent
The Interior Ministry said 290 demonstrators were arrested Monday after numerous protests turned violent.
Sarkozy says the reform is the only way to save France's pension system. A decisive vote on it will take place in the Senate on Wednesday. Sarkozy reiterated on Tuesday that he won't back down. "The reform is essential and France is committed to it and will go ahead with it, just as our German partners did," he told journalists during a summit meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the northern city of Deauville.
Merkel backed Sarkozy in an interview with French channel France 2. "I think the population in Germany, just like in France, won't be able to avoid facing up to the truth," she said. "The truth is that people are living longer. And if we want to guarantee a decent pension, the fact that we're living longer must lead to people working longer."
Merkel pointed out that Germany was increasing its retirement age from 65 to 67. "It would be very bad for the young generation if we were now just to close our eyes to reality and let our children and grandchildren face all the problems one day."
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Thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday in what are now becoming familiar scenes of mass protest. Many in the country are furious over President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to raise the age of retirement from 60 to 62. A crucial vote on the issue is scheduled for Wednesday.
Looting and violence broke out today in the Lyon city center. Here youths run from a looted shop window.
A demonstrator takes aim as the tear gas swirls around him. Police clashed with stone-throwing youths as protests continued to escalate in Lyon.
A protestor jumps over a burning trash receptacle in Lyon city center.
School children kick tear gas canisters away after police used them to try and disperse crowds in Lyon on Tuesday.
Riot police and school students look on as garbage burns on the street during a demonstration in Lyon on Monday. The protests, which began over a week ago, have now become violent in many French cities. In Lyon, youths smashed shop display windows, threw stones and set cars on fire.
A roadblock in Toulouse on Monday. This week has seen an increase in the number of truck drivers joining the protest movement. Fears are growing of an impending nationwide fuel shortage.
Striking workers block fuel storage depots in Caen, northwestern France.
A protestor waves the flag of the CGT union during another fuel depot blockade, Frontigan, southern France.
The trash piles up on the streets of Marseille as refuse workers join the strikes. France faced its sixth day of nationwide strikes and protests in two months on Tuesday as trade unions sought to force President Nicolas Sarkozy to back down on an unpopular pension reform raising the retirement age to 62 from 60.
Youths throw items at unseen police officers and set alight to tyres during clashes in Nanterre outside Paris on Monday.
Sailors demonstrate in the Mediterranean port of Marseille last Friday, October 15. Sarkozy says the reform is the only way to save France's pension system. A decisive vote on it will take place in the Senate on Wednesday. Sarkozy reiterated on Tuesday that he won't back down. "The reform is essential and France is committed to it and will go ahead with it," he said.