Strikes caused hassles for air travelers in France on Thursday, but nationwide street protests over a plan to raise the retirement age to 62 failed to draw the massive crowds of weeks’ past — a sign of slackening resolve among the bill’s opponents.
Parliament has already approved raising the retirement age from 60 to 62, but union leaders insist they will not give up their fight until conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy actually signs the bill. Still, fewer protesters followed them onto the streets this time, and strikes by train and oil workers have been tapering off in recent days.
In Paris, demonstrators waved union flags and set off flares, while in southern Marseille, they beat drums and blew whistles. Past demonstrations have drawn more than a million protesters onto the streets: This time, the Interior Ministry put the figure at 560,000 nationwide. The hard-line CGT union contested that number, putting turnout at 2 million.
Photo: EPA
“It’s true you could say the anti-reform movement is slowing down, but you need to ask why,” said Serba Germain, a 67-year-old retired police officer marching in Marseille. “People are disappointed, they are frustrated” because the government hasn’t listened.
Unions and opposition parties urged Sarkozy not to sign the law, which polls show is unpopular. He is expected to do so by the middle of next month, after it is cleared by France’s constitutional watchdog.
Socialist leader Martine Aubry urged Sarkozy to listen to the people.
“We will fight until the end,” she said.
However, Sarkozy has refused to back down, even amid two weeks of strikes that canceled trains, shut down oil refineries and left drivers struggling to find gasoline.
A small number of trains were canceled on Thursday, but the problem was bigger for airlines. A third of flights at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport and half of those at the city’s smaller Orly airport were canceled. Flights were expected to run as normal yesterday.
Though the strikes are tapering off, the fuel shortages they caused lingered because of refinery strikes. About 85 percent of gas stations are now open, the government said on Thursday night, but added that the Paris region and central France continued to face some difficulties. Seven of the nation’s 12 refineries have voted to return to work.
Special measures, like keeping 90 percent of fuel depots open, were being put in place to ensure supplies through the coming long weekend when the French return en masse from a fall vacation, a statement by Energy and Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said.
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