| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| French police open blocked fuel depots |
| 2010-10-16 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] President Nicolas Sarkozy dispatched riot police Friday to reopen fuel depots blocked by strikes against pension reform, as the pipeline to Paris airports was cut and all of France's oil refineries shut down. But even as officers forced open the barricades at some depots, strikers threw up new pickets at other fuel distribution centres across the country to fight against moves to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Students protested outside the prime minister's offices and erupted into the streets in demonstrations across France, where more than 300 schools were hit by a fourth consecutive day of blockades or other actions, officials said. Sarkozy on Thursday took the decision to send in the police to prevent fuel shortages amid reports of panic buying after workers at all of France's 12 refineries walked out to join the broader protest. "The goal of this reform is to guarantee to all French people that their retirement and that of their children can be paid for," Sarkozy insisted, at a ceremony to award medals to mothers of large families. "As head of state my duty is to look to the future and not profit from the past," he said, accusing his opponents of ignoring the reality of the growing shortfall in the social security fund, which fuels France's budget deficit. Unions and the Socialist opposition have vowed to defend the right to retire at 60 -- accusing Sarkozy of making workers carry the burden for the failure of the financial sector. But despite the protests, the government shows no sign of retreating from what is a cornerstone of Sarkozy's reform agenda as he prepares for his likely re-election battle in 2012. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 So this article says the protestors are Students, Unions, and the Socialist opposition. ArenÂ’t those the same groups Obama is criss-crossing the US trying to get their votes? |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2010-10-16 12:19 |