French strikes continue for third day; unions call for another mass protest

French strikes continue for third day; unions call for another mass protest

2010-10-15 01:50:22 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- French strikes on Thursday continued for the third day in a row as Union leaders called for another massive strike on October 19 to protest the pension reform bill propsed by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The massive strike began on Tuesday just after French lawmakers passed a key measure of the pension reform bill. The approved measure will raise retirement age for workers with full pension from 65 to 67.

On Friday, the French Senate passed a measure to raise the country's retirement age from 60 to 62. The rest of the points of the reform will be discussed and voted upon this October as the government expects the whole reform to be passed by the end of the month.

For the third day in a row, transport and services were disrupted in the French capital Paris and other major cities like Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille. The shortage of fuel has caused panic among citizens who created long lines at filling stations.

Fuel stocks and filling stations could begin to run low this month as 8 of the 12 French refineries were beginning to shut down its operations.

Students and schools joined the demonstrations and the protest movement for the first time. This was an important move that has drawn concern from the government as French history has shown that the student movement is strong and could lead to radicalism and possible street violence.

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