In France, Labor Strikes Head for Showdown

In France, Labor Strikes Head for Showdown
By ALAN COWELL
Copyright by Reuters News
Published: October 19, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/world/europe/20france.html?th&emc=th


PARIS — Flights were canceled, drivers scavenged for fuel and hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, took to the streets of Paris and other cities on Tuesday as protests over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to change France’s pension system mounted in advance of a parliamentary vote.

The protests came on the sixth day of national strikes or demonstrations since early September. Initial figures from government ministries said that fewer public workers had participated than in previous stoppages. Over all, the Interior Ministry said 480,000 people were demonstrating across France by midday, compared to 500,000 in protests a week ago. But the number of high schools reporting class boycotts and other student protests had risen to a high of 379, reflecting what seemed to be a more prominent showing of young people joing street demonstrations.

In Paris, the number of those marching across the city, waving banners and lofting flares, fell from 89,000 one week ago to 67,000, the city authorities said, but labor unions put the figure five times higher.

Garbage workers, teachers, armored truck drivers supplying automated teller machines and an array of others joined the strikes on Tuesday. Protest organizations said demonstrations took place at more than 260 sites across the country, ratcheting up the battle of nerves between the authorities and unions, which are demanding that the government retreat from reforms like administrations did in 1995 and 2006 when confronted by outrage against tax and labor law changes.

While most marches seemed orderly, around 300 young people threw up barricades of garbage cans to snarl traffic in the Place de la République in central Paris and scuffles were reported between rock-throwing students and riot police firing tear-gas in the outlying neighborhoods of Nanterre and Mantes-la-Jolie. In the south-eastern city of Lyon, 20 people were arrested in the central Bellecour district, the authorities said, after hooded youths set fire to cars and at least five shops were looted.

The disruptions have gained momentum since the first national protest on Sept. 7, and have been compounded by an eight-day strike at oil refineries and blockades of fuel depots that have left service stations desperate for re-supplies of diesel and gasoline.

In central Paris, drivers lined up at gas stations hoping to fill their tanks before a two-week school vacation begins this weekend. Many waited for as long as an hour, creeping toward pumps in the hope that they were not yet empty of fuel. Some drivers from the suburbs said they had tried and failed to fill up at stations on their way into the city. Almost one third of France’s 13,000 service stations have run out of some products, according to the government.

But Mr. Sarkozy has shown no sign of abandoning his plan to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60 — a measure designed to pay for pensions at a time when, across Europe, ageing populations depend on ever fewer young people to finance social safety nets with their taxes.

On Tuesday, Mr. Sarkozy said it was his duty to enact the reforms and he promised measures to guarantee fuel supplies. “I understand the worries,” he said. “In a democracy, everyone may express themselves, but they should do it without violence or excesses.” He said a “certain number of troublemakers” had joined the protests. “I will ensure with the forces of order that public order is guaranteed,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “That is my duty, too.”

On Tuesday, the police said a high school in Le Mans, southwest of Paris, was destroyed by arson in the early hours, but it was not clear if the blaze was linked to the protests. Transport authorities in Paris said commuter rail services were cut by as much as a half.

The national railroad authority announced cancellations of around half its high-speed and normal services on Tuesday, but said the Eurostar Paris-London link would not be affected. The authority said support for the strike among railroad workers seemed to be running at around 30 percent compared to 40 percent for the previous stoppage a week ago.

At the Gare du Nord station in Paris, travelers waited on benches, then raced to cram trains running on a reduced schedule. “It’s absolutely absurd,” said Emmanuel de Boos, 56, a writer from the western city of Nantes. “We absolutely need to reform the retirement system as it exists today.”

“I think these strikes are more about other things,” he said, likening them to a referendum on Mr. Sarkozy. “This is a reaction against the elite.”

Scott Sayare, Marie-Pia Gohin, Joanna Kakissis, Nicola Clark, Maïa de la Baume and Matthew Saltmarsh contributed reporting.

Yannick Kalu, 25, a student from a northern suburb of Paris, called Mr. Sarkozy’s reforms a bad idea. “For those who began working early in life, it’s going to be rough.” He agreed that the strikes were about the broader issue of Mr. Sarkozy’s rule. “I really do hope it’s going to stop,” he said, but added, “We can’t hold it against people to worry about their retirements.”

In the central Châtelet neighborhood, Marie Rodriguez, 35, a middle school teacher, said the broad response to the protests “proves that not only one group is against the reform but that everybody is concerned.”

“I support the strike,” she added.

At Orly airport near Paris, where half of the scheduled flights were grounded, travelers peered at departure boards recording cancellations and delays.

Martin Raggio, 31, and Alejandro Molettieri, 29, who both work at a brewery in Buenos Aires, had come to Orly after their train to Barcelona was canceled. “I guess we will wait here, we will sleep here in Orly maybe, until we can leave,” Mr. Roggio said glumly. “We knew about the strike, but we were hoping we would be O.K.”

At other French airports, around a third of flights were affected as the test of wills between labor unions and the government intensified.

Presenting himself as a champion of inevitable change, Mr. Sarkozy had proposed the retirement measures to help wrest France from the economic doldrums gripping many parts of Europe and to reverse years of declining political fortunes before elections in 2012. With a final Senate vote on the measures expected this week and lower house approval already in hand, he believes he is assured of a parliamentary victory. But it is not clear when the vote will come about, leaving the authorities and the unions potentially facing days of attrition.

Initially, the vote was set for Wednesday, but it could now be held on Thursday or even as late as Sunday as the Senate plows its way through some 400 amendments introduced by the opposition.

Scott Sayare, Marie-Pia Gohin, Joanna Kakissis, Nicola Clark, Maïa de la Baume and Matthew Saltmarsh contributed reporting.