French police force open blockaded petrol stations
French authorities forced strike-shuttered fuel depots to reopen today to ensure petrol supplies keep flowing, and the interior minister threatened to send in paramilitary police to stop rioting on the fringes of protests against raising the retirement age to 62.
Youths wearing hoods and scarves on their faces rampaged through the Paris suburb of Nanterre, breaking shop windows and hurling stones at riot police. The town has seen clashes in recent days centred on a high school that joined the protests.
Months of largely peaceful demonstrations against the pension reform have taken a violent turn in recent days. The plan is set for a vote in the Senate tomorrow, but unions want the government to renegotiate, saying the bill threatens the country’s hard-earned social protections.
President Nicolas Sarkozy and his government have stayed firm, insisting it is essential to saving the money-losing pension system. Countries around Europe are also facing public resistance as they try to tame government debts that have threatened the euro.
With nearly a third of France’s petrol stations dry yesterday, authorities stepped in overnight to force open three fuel depots in western France blocked by striking workers for days, interior minister Brice Hortefeux said. He said the operations saw no violence.
“The right to strike does not give anyone the right to prevent people from working or the right to block things, or the right to prevent travel,” Mr Hortefeux said.
He warned that the fuel depot blockades threaten emergency services and could have grave consequences for the entire French economy and public health and safety. He described an “infernal spiral” of consequences when nurses and bus drivers cannot get to work.
“These acts are not only unacceptable, but they are also irresponsible,” he said.
French unions have a long tradition of street protests, but the current strife is particularly worrisome because it has touched the vital energy sector and is drawing often volatile youth into the mix.
Mr Hortefeux warned rioters that “the right to protest is not the right to break things, the right to set things on fire, the right to assault, the right to pillage”.
“We will use all means necessary to get these delinquents,” he added, including the GIGN paramilitary police.
Over the past week, 1,423 people have been detained for protest-related violence, he said, more than a third of them on Tuesday. Of those, 123 are facing legal action. He said he ordered police to look at video surveillance to find more perpetrators, suggesting more arrests could be ahead.
He said 62 police officers have been injured in the violence over the past week.
In Nanterre this morning, about 100 students blocked the school entrance and part of the road in front of the school, while a “tranquillity team” of about 30 adults in red jackets sought to keep things calm.
Then about 100 other youths arrived and ran through the town streets, smashing store windows and throwing stones. Some store owners lowered metal blinds to avoid looting. Nine police vans were parked in the surrounding area.
The pavements of Nanterre were littered with glass from bus shelters and illuminated signs that had been smashed yesterday. All the vehicles were removed today from the street in front of the school because a car had been torched there the day before.
Students plan new protests tomorrow, with a demonstration in Paris hours before the Senate is expected to approve the measure. The bill would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 to prevent the pension system from going bankrupt as citizens live longer and a diminishing pool of young workers pay into the system.
