After another day of protests in France against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reform plans, the government has taken action to make sure daily life is not hampered beyond limits while the Senate goes over hundreds of amendments to the proposed bill.
Sarkozy ordered police Tuesday to break blockades at fuel depots in order to restore fuel deliveries. On Wednesday, it was reported that more than 3,000, or a quarter of all gas stations were empty.
France’s Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Tuesday at a news conference the right to strike does not give a free pass to “prevent people from working, or the right to block things, or the right to prevent travel.”
Besides fuel shortages, another disturbance citizens have had to deal with during the strikes are youth riots that started last Monday. Hortefeux said the violent riots will be stopped and government could never accept that “small groups of thugs transform parts of our country into battlefields,” euronews reported.
Since Monday, youth in Lyon and in other parts of the country have set fire, trashed stores, and assaulted police. More than 1,400 young people have been arrested over the past week. In Lyon, about 800 policemen were mobilized to keep order.
France’s Senate was to vote on the bill on Oct. 20, but the deadline was extended to Friday afternoon at the earliest, according to euronews. As the Senate works though hundreds of amendments, opposition members are trying to stall the process. They have asked Sarkozy to “suspend debate” and resume negotiations with the trade unions, Le Monde reports.
Labor Minister Eric Woerth responded by saying it was a funny idea to suspend debate in the Senate. “The Senate will vote for it this time,” according to Le Monde.
The strikes in France are against the government’s efforts to push the retirement age to 62 from 60 in 2018. The goal is to save money from the government coffers during Europe’s worst recession in 70 years. France currently has one of the lowest retirement ages in Europe.
Sarkozy ordered police Tuesday to break blockades at fuel depots in order to restore fuel deliveries. On Wednesday, it was reported that more than 3,000, or a quarter of all gas stations were empty.
France’s Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Tuesday at a news conference the right to strike does not give a free pass to “prevent people from working, or the right to block things, or the right to prevent travel.”
Besides fuel shortages, another disturbance citizens have had to deal with during the strikes are youth riots that started last Monday. Hortefeux said the violent riots will be stopped and government could never accept that “small groups of thugs transform parts of our country into battlefields,” euronews reported.
Since Monday, youth in Lyon and in other parts of the country have set fire, trashed stores, and assaulted police. More than 1,400 young people have been arrested over the past week. In Lyon, about 800 policemen were mobilized to keep order.
France’s Senate was to vote on the bill on Oct. 20, but the deadline was extended to Friday afternoon at the earliest, according to euronews. As the Senate works though hundreds of amendments, opposition members are trying to stall the process. They have asked Sarkozy to “suspend debate” and resume negotiations with the trade unions, Le Monde reports.
Labor Minister Eric Woerth responded by saying it was a funny idea to suspend debate in the Senate. “The Senate will vote for it this time,” according to Le Monde.
The strikes in France are against the government’s efforts to push the retirement age to 62 from 60 in 2018. The goal is to save money from the government coffers during Europe’s worst recession in 70 years. France currently has one of the lowest retirement ages in Europe.
