FRENCH PENSION PROTEST

New France shutdown on sixth day of pension protests
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The BBC's Christian Fraser describes the scene as the blockade starts to bite
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* In pictures: Protests intensify
* French petrol stations 'run dry'
* France's bitter war over pensions

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.

Speaking in Deauville at a summit with the leaders of Russia and Germany, he made a pledge to restore petrol supplies once he had returned to Paris.

"I thought carefully before I decided to go ahead with pension reform. It had been put on hold for too long and could not be put on hold any longer.

"It was a difficult, complex choice, but it was my duty."

But with the Senate due for a final vote this week, protests are planned in more than 200 towns and cities.

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, although it is now expected to go ahead on Thursday.

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.
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At the scene
image of Christian Fraser Christian Fraser BBC News, Paris

The unrest has intensified since last week when unions for railway and refinery workers called open-ended action, joined now by truck drivers and delivery workers.

Government ministers stressed the country has plenty of fuel and that airports in particular have ample supply. But by the end of today it's estimated 2,500 service stations will have run short of fuel.

President Sarkozy has formed a crisis cabinet tasked with overseeing the government's response. He refuses to give anymore concessions to the unions and at this point there's no sign either side is likely to back down.

The BBC's Christian Fraser, in Paris, says there is a feeling that the demonstration could turn angry, with a noticeable change in atmosphere since last week.

Ahead of the march there were clashes for a second day between students and police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Police fired tear gas to break up angry youths.

Nationally, 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.
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“Start Quote

We shouldn't think it's still acceptable to stop working at 60 years old - we should work until 65”

End Quote Frederic Deraed Insurance worker

There was more opposition among those travelling as the strikes began.

"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 in Lille.

"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 Olivier Sekai of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) said he saw support increasing for the protests.

"The government is acting as if we didn't have a rich country, as if we didn't have the money. The thing is we do have the money," he told the BBC.
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.
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Pension protest numbers

* Saturday 16 October: 825,000 (source: police) to 3 million (source: unions)
* Tuesday 12 October: 1.2 million to 3.5 million
* Saturday 2 October: 900,000 to 3 million
* Thursday 23 September: 1 million to 3 million
* Tuesday 7 September: 1.2 million to 2.7 million

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.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11570828

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