French truck drivers staged go-slow operations on highways, rail strikes intensified and petrol stations ran out of fuel today as protests gathered pace ahead of a Senate vote on an unpopular pension overhaul.
The government, which has stood firm on President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age through months of protests, assured the public infrastructure would not freeze up despite a week-long strike at refineries that dried up supplies at hundreds of the roughly 12,500 petrol stations nationwide.
"The situation is critical," a spokeswoman at Exxon Mobil said. "Anyone looking for diesel in the Paris and Nantes (western France) regions will have problems," she said.
Strike action increased ahead of a nationwide march tomorrow, and with a final Senate vote on the pension bill set for Wednesday it was looking like a make-or-break week for Mr Sarkozy.
However, the French president, in the northern seaside town of Deauville for talks with the leaders of Germany and Russia, said he would not back down. "The reform is essential, and France is committed to it and will go ahead with it just as our German partners did," he told reporters after meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Workers at France's 12 refineries were in their seventh day of a strike today, and protesters were blocking access at many fuel distribution depots around the country.
The UFIP oil industry lobby has said France could see serious fuel supply problems by mid-week, meaning the government may have to tap emergency reserves. The country's aviation authority urged airlines to reduce flights to Paris's Orly airport by 50 per cent and to all other airports by 30 per cent on tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be the sixth day of major weekday protests and work stoppages called by national labour union confederations since June but the unrest has intensified since last week when unions at railways and refineries began open-ended industrial action, joined now by truck drivers and delivery workers.
Government ministers stressed the country had plenty of fuel and that airports in particular have ample supply. "The government is in control," Industry Minister Christian Estrosi told RTL radio. "There will be no blockade for companies, no blockade for transport and no blockade for road users."
The pension bill's main points have passed through both houses of parliament. The Senate will now vote on the entire package, which the lower house has approved. The Senate vote risked slipping by a day or more beyond Wednesday due to slow progress through 1,000 amendments tabled by the opposition.
Analysts are anticipating a yes vote in the Senate after which the next stage - a joint vote by a committee representing both houses of parliament -=- will be little more than a formality. The government wants that to happen by end-October.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon has warned that people blocking fuel depots are breaking the law.
"The right to strike is not the right to bar access to a fuel depot, that's an illegal action," he said yesterday. "I will not let the French economy suffocate from a blockage of fuel supply."
Mr Sarkozy today hosted talks with Ms Merkel and Dmitry Medvedev, at the seaside town of Deauville, where 100 or so Mr Sarkozy admirers chanted supportive slogans.
Reuters