French students protest as Senate votes on pensions

France’s main student union has called for demonstrations in main cities to protest the Senate vote on the government's sweeping pensions reform on Tuesday. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said France has reached a “turning point” as cracks appeared in the fuel blockade.

High school students attend a demonstration over pension reform in Nantes Reuters

Raising hopes of an end to the energy crisis, Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said 80 per cent of petrol stations would be operating normally on Tuesday.

As students continued protests, some workers voted to end their stoppages:

• In Marseille, rubbish collectors have resumed work after 14 days of strikes against the pensions reform, after workers voted to resume work on Monday evening for health and security reasons;
• In the southern city of Toulouse, three-fifths of rubbish depots were still on strike on Tuesday, leading to disruption in rubbish collection;
• Workers at three of France’s 12 oil refineries have voted to return to work and police have cleared blockades at over 200 fuel depots across the country;
• Labour leaders have called for a ninth one-day stoppage on Thursday.

Workers are striking against the government’s bid to raise the minimum age to obtain a full rate pension from 65 to 67 and the minimum legal retirement age from 60 to 62.

On Tuesday, the Senate is to vote on the definite version of the pensions reform, ahead of a National Assembly vote scheduled for Wednesday.

Although the bill is to pass both houses, the opposition Socialist Party could seize the French Constitutional Council, which means the bill would not be passed into law until mid-November.

Students are expected to demonstrate in several major cities including Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyon.

Speaking on French radio, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said France has reached “a turning point” on the pensions reform. On Monday, the government warned that the strikes were costing the French economy up to three billion euros.

In Belgium, trade unionists have blocked a fuel depot in the town of Feluy to show their solidarity with French oil workers on strike.