PARIS – Officials have taken the extraordinary step of warning some flights landing at France’s main airport to come with enough fuel to get back home, bracing for a possible fuel shortage after a new round of protests today against plans to raise the retirement age to 62.
Police estimated that about 825 000 people marched in cities across France to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to extend the retirement age to keep pension coffers full.
That is fewer than during an October 12 march and far lower than the union estimate of three million. But unions are not relenting in fighting for what the French see as a near-sacred right to retire at 60.
A sixth round of nationwide protests is scheduled for Tuesday, a day before the Senate votes on the retirement reform, which must still return to both houses due to amendments tacked on during debates.
Schools, trains, public transport and even garbage collection in Marseille have been blocked by intermittant strikes to pressure Sarkozy to back down.
The possibility of a long-term fuel shortage appears to be the most worrisome outcome of the protest movement.
Finance Minister Christine Legarde tried to assuage fears, insisting yesterday that there was no shortage of gasoline.
“Today, there is no reason, no reason, I repeat, to panic because there is no risk of shortages,” she told BFM-TV yesterday, noting that only 230 of the country’s 13 000 gas stations were out of fuel. “There are weeks of reserve.”
The same could not be said for Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris, which moved into a Plan B mode to keep planes flying in and out of the European hub while conserving a limited fuel supply. (AP)
