|
|
Blog Feeds
The SakerA bird's eye view of the vineyard
Public InquiryInterested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
Human Rights in IrelandPromoting Human Rights in Ireland
Lockdown Skeptics
|
2010: Blockades, direct action and demonstrations in France. 2011: G8-G20 in France international |
anti-capitalism |
news report
 Saturday October 16, 2010 11:13 by France in flames, again
 16 year old in critical condition after being hit in face by police “flashball” French strikes continue. Strikes spread across the country on fourth day of nationwide protests over pension reforms. Three fuel storage depots have been reopened by riot police in France, as fears grow of a shortage at the pumps. Nine of the country’s 12 refineries have shut down due to strike action prompted by the government’s plans for pension reform. High school students have joined the pension protests for the first time this week. 360 high schools across the country were closed this morning due to protests by students. In Paris, one of them is in a critical condition after being hit in the face by a “flashball” – a device used by police for crowd control. G8-G20 2011 in France: CALL FOR A INTERNATIONAL PREPARATION MEETING Despite our repeated attempts to stop their meetings, the heads of the most powerful states will meet again for the G8 and G20 in France in 2011.With the political, economic and environmental context, the reasons to show our disagreements and alternatives abound. [Video y fotos] Siguen los bloqueos, acciones directas y manifestaciones en Francia http://www.lahaine.org/index.php?p=48681 - (translated at http://tinyurl.com/3399l7l ) vid - Manifestation à toulouse contre la réforme des retraites lycéens 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56RhCrG20qE Riot police move in to open fuel depots in France (euronews) http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/15/riot-police-move-in-...ance/ High school students join protests in France (euronews) http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/15/high-school-students...ance/ G8-G20 2011 in France: CALL FOR A INTERNATIONAL PREPARATION MEETING http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_...15492 France Comes Under Mounting Pressure over Mass Deportation of Roma (democracy now) http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/15/france_comes_unde..._over Orders to police on Roma expulsions from France leaked A memo on the break-up of Roma camps may breach international human rights laws, say critics of expulsions http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/13/sarkozy-rom...ights Frances conflictive history... 2005 civil unrest in France, starting on 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_civil_unrest_in_France 40 years ago this month in Paris….Mai 68 http://www.indymedia.ie/article/87672
Caption: Video Id: 56RhCrG20qE Type: Youtube Video |
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
Gab
Twitter
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (25 of 25)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25French CRS cop caught on camera viciously punching a girl in the face (52 seconds into vid clip)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf7hbm_une-manifestant...embed
French CRS cop caught on camera viciously punching a girl in the face
The best way to beat them is by other peaceful means of protest,and properly organised chaos,it doesnt always have to be violent,such a pity..
It's good to see university and high school students (and their student unions) join the demos. They argue, correctly, that increasing the age of retirement will lead to an increase in youth unemployment.
"The more the government tells youth that their place isn't in the street, the more they mobilize," Jean-Baptiste Prevost of the UNEF (Student Union Federation).
Public support for the strikes is running at about 70% according to the national media.
The strikes, demos, barricades have been peaceful. It is the French cops who are being violent.
catch updates from...
60 ans c’est déjà trop, pas question de bosser un jour de plus ! (imc- paris)
http://paris.indymedia.org/spip.php?article3101
imc-nantes - http://nantes.indymedia.org/
imc-grenoble - http://grenoble.indymedia.org/
imc-lille - http://lille.indymedia.org/
Francia, un ejemplo a seguir: Este sábado seguirán las movilizaciones contra los recortes de Sarkozy (kaosenlared - spanish)
http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/francia-ejemplo-segu...-reco
Hundreds of protests held across France
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/16/hundreds-of-protests...ance/
Fuel runs low as French protest
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1016/....html
bring it on Dublin. direct action non voilent protests
enough guff, waffling. target them in the Dail with their obscene mouth pieces through the media. poor auld David Drumm in America
working class political action
The French workers are aware of their latent power. They tend to make sure their actions hit the puppeteers up top. They control the infrastructure and have cut off fuel supplies at key points.
An equivalent action would see Irish workers organised so that when they hit the marginalised with water charges the water supply to the Dail and Ministers' homes gets cut.Unfortunately Paddy dont seem to have a very highly developed sense of social solidarity despite sentimental revulsion at the blatant abuses of the 'masters'. The hoors are so cute they keep enough of 'their own' in clover to manipulate the propagandised electorate into believing that the elite's interests are the hallowed 'national interests'. After several centuries of clutching at the filthy skirts of momma church Paddy has been mentally retarded for generations from thinking for him/herself and has developed a general aversion to uncomfortable facts that contradict the long swallowed creed that their betters know best,i.e. believe, dont think. Faith, not doubt, that diabolical temptation to the hubris of believing you possess a functioning brain of your own, even if you are not up to speed with their jargon.
As a result they will convince enough gobshites that they have the wherewithal to initiate their nebulous 'smart economy', even as they push the brightest, best educated out of the country lest they propose what the country needs, a glimmer of economic measurement that is not posited on the numerology of absentee corporate vested interests. The corporate gamblers own the ref, the bookie, and the security apparatus, and their media tannoy is clicking into gear,again, to point out the fire exits to another generation, lest they reclaim their purloined birthright to a livlihood in the the land they have as much right to as any fine-featherd IBEC nestling.
- Paris airport fuel is running out amid pension protests (guardian)
Government warns that Charles de Gaulle airport risks running out of fuel by Monday night and tries to prevent panic buying
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/16/france-airp...p=239
- French strikes continue (guardian photos)
Strikes spread across the country on fourth day of nationwide protests over pension reforms
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/oct/15/fre...tests
- Sarkozy in bitter battle with unions (Irish Times)
President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing a make-or-break week for his unpopular pension reform as French unions ramp up pressure to scrap it.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1017/....html
Protests in France over pension reforms (RTE, vids at link)
French police have said 50,000 demonstrators turned out in Paris to protest against pension reform plans, fewer than at a previous weekend rally two weeks ago.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1016/france.html
[Actualizado] 264 detenidos en Francia el viernes y grandes movilizaciones ayer sábado (La Haine, in spanish)
http://www.lahaine.org/index.php?p=48681
Bastille, interpellation musclée (undercover cops taking out "leaders")
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf8j0q_bastille-interp..._news
A student leaves her high school in Montreuil, outside Paris
Sarko Facho - Sarkozy Fascist
Oil worker and union representative Christophe Hiou delivers a speech as workers protest near the oil refinery in Donges, near Nantes
High school students block the entrance to the Lycée Turgot in Paris
French police arrest a protester who was taking part in National Union demonstration against retirement reform in Paris last night. (Is France racist?)
French undercover cops take out "leaders"
Caption: Video Id: HutX2ZBvV04 Type: Youtube Video
Manifestation contre la rétraite à 62 ans Saint-Etienne 16-10-2010
France is braced for a sixth national day of protest over President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to reform the country's pension system.
Striking public sector workers will disrupt travel and protesters will march en masse as trade unions test Mr Sarkozy over his unpopular reforms.
France is again the focus of increasing European anger at pension and retirement reforms, which has seen protests and demonstrations across the continent.
This morning, thousands of French truck drivers blocked roads across the country, as anti-reform protests gathered pace ahead of Wednesday’s Senate vote on pension overhauls. Strikers say the government can’t ignore their concerns.
“It is going to affect people getting to work or school, but you can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs,” said Thierry Cordier from the CFDT drivers’ union. “The government does not want to hear or see anything. Well, it will see how the street feels.”
French strikers test Sarkozy over pension reform plans
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1019/....html
New French protests amid fuel shortages
French workers and students are taking to the streets for a sixth day of protests against pension reform, with petrol stations running dry and many flights cancelled.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1019/france.html
euronews
Clashes / French refinery workers choke off oil supplies
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/19/french-refinery-work...lies/
France braces itself for more street protests
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/19/france-braces-itself...ests/
Refinery workers choke French fuel supply
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/19/france-braces-itself...ests/
France faces a Tuesday of reform protest chaos
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/18/france-faces-a-tuesd...haos/
Demonstration / Anger and arrests as French students protest
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/18/anger-and-arrests-as...test/
Truckers join French strike; fuel harder to find
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/18/truckers-join-french...find/
France wakes up to strike chaos on the roads
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/18/france-wakes-up-to-s...oads/
“Protests against the reforms continue, and many high school students have joined the demonstrations. We have seen several violent incidents, with groups of troublemakers joining the march. And, there are fears the protests may become even more radicalised."
Polls suggest seven out of ten French people still support the strikes, but if the petrol runs out and there’s no way of getting around, that might change.
It’s the strikes at France’s refineries which are causing the most disruption, and public concern. Workers have been blockading the country’s 12 refineries for more than a week. Their action has already seen some petrol stations running dry, and to fuel shortages at France’s airports.
Didier Le Reste of the CGT union warned of more strike action. “The start of the week will see a widening of the strike, with more sustained action in sectors such as road transport, energy, postal and telecommunications and public service and commerce,” he said.
The growing unrest has turned this into a ‘make-or-break’ week for President Sarkozy’s unpopular plan to raise the pension age. Even the leader of the president’s UMP party in the Senate has said the vote scheduled for Wednesday should be delayed by a day.
France’s long history of street protest has seen a new chapter written, with students blockading schools and clashing with police across the country.
Some of the most notable protests came in France’s second city, Lyon. There, students taunted police while expressing their fears for future life after work. These protests were generally confined to the burning of cars and rubbish bins, but there were reports that police had fired tear gas to break up demonstrations in the eastern cities of Mulhouse and Montbelliard. A number of people were arrested across the country for public order offences.
Monitoring day of strike on Tuesday ::La Haine
Monitoring the day of mobilization.
Historical record in the demonstrations.
Day 2 of incidents in Nanterre and Lyon.
This new day of action is breaking records. There are over 800 institutes blocked, blocked 6 universities and a total of 11 mobilized, 2500 gas stations out of stock, busy airports (such as in Bordeaux Merignac has been occupied by about 500 protesters this morning), and massive assistance manifestations, such as in Toulouse, which was attended by 155,000 people.
In every city thousands of students have participated in demonstrations and at this time there have been incidents in Nanterre and Lyon (for 2 nd consecutive day)
La Haine = http://www.lahaine.org/index.php?p=48681 eng= http://tinyurl.com/33cqc3u
Nouveaux affrontements à Nanterre Mardi 19 octobre 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJfqdyGCRc
Echauffourées devant le Medef, à Caen, 12 October 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dPNHM4xJtc
day of action is breaking records. There are over 800 institutes blocked.
Caption: Video Id: OSJfqdyGCRc Type: Youtube Video
Nouveaux affrontements à Nanterre Mardi 19 octobre 2010
Caption: Video Id: 6dPNHM4xJtc Type: Youtube Video
Echauffourées devant le Medef, à Caen, 12 October 2010
Guardian= French strikes and protests: live updates = http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/oct/19/french-...wt_gu
le parisien - live blog of the strike action on French newspaper Le Parisien's website http://www.leparisien.fr/economie/retraites/en-direct-4...4.php
France 24 = Unions pile pressure on govt in latest pension reform push http://www.france24.com/en/20101019-french-strikers-mar...nions
Manif' qui dégénère à NANTERRE - 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40efmQNyCRc
Protesters clash with police in Lyon
Caption: Video Id: 40efmQNyCRc Type: Youtube Video
Manif
3.03pm: Here's a summary of the main developments today:
Live blog: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/oct/19/french-...-live
• Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in scores of towns and cities across France to protest against Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reforms. Police and unions differed sharply on estimates of the number of people involved, but YouTube footage in various locations showed the scale and breadth of the demonstrations.
• Violence between police and protesters has continued for another day in some areas. The worst clashes occurred in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, and a school burnt down in Le Mans.
• Sarkozy warned of a crackdown against "troublemakers" and said he had a duty to push ahead with the reforms. A crucial Senate vote on raising the retirement age to 62 has been delayed until later in the week.
• Almost a third of French petrol stations have run out of fuel, as panic buying continues. But the government claims supplies will be back to normal within five days.
• The strikes caused the closures of hundreds of schools, the cancellation of around a third of flights, and continuing disruption to the rail network. But there is an expectation that the protests will fade once the pension reforms are passed in the Senate.
La carte des manifestations du 19 octobre
http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/infographie/2010/10/19/....html
19oct map
The unions, however, which defeated pension and labour reforms with strikes in 1995 and 2006, say they will press on regardless.
France set for seventh strike day
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1020/....html
More protests in France ahead of pension vote
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1020/france.html
oct 20: French strikes and protests: live updates: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/oct/20/french...rikes
Police move in to restore French fuel supplies
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/20/police-move-in-to-re...lies/
Police in France have broken blockades at three fuel depots at Donges, La Rochelle, and Le Mans, restoring supplies, but all of France’s refineries remain shut down.
Tariq Ali: Many thousands have protested in France against cuts; we have a proud history of dissent in Britain, so why aren't we on the streets? Many thousands have protested in France against cuts; we have a proud history of dissent in Britain, so why aren't we on the streets?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/19/protest-...rench
Joseph Stiglitz, suggests US and British citizens should follow the French example by taking to the streets to protest at welfare
reforms and austerity measures. In an interview with the magazine Le Point he said: "When I look at France I somehow feel that there may be a more healthy response to get ...in the street and say 'something's wrong here'."
via @guardian: http://tinyurl.com/3yfonh6 > Joseph Stiglitz vid: "Les grèves en France ? Un formidable espoir"
http://www.lepoint.fr/economie/joseph-stiglitz-les-grev...8.php
Teenagers torch cars in France as riots turn violent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUayGEWM77w
Chambéry, 19 octobre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHk4Q6I5wjE
Caption: Video Id: KUayGEWM77w Type: Youtube Video
Teenagers torch cars in France as riots turn violent
Caption: Video Id: KHk4Q6I5wjE Type: Youtube Video
Chambéry, 19 octobre
9.36am: French government Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, threatened to send in paramilitary police to stop rioters who torched cars, trashed stores and injured police and others on the fringes of nationwide protests.
"We will mobilise all means necessary to put these thugs out of harm's way," he said, adding that he would not hesitate to send in armed units.
http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_la_une/toute_l_...oquer
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/oct/20/french...rikes
yesterday - Photos and stories
France 24- Photos and stories from French pension reform protests
http://observers.france24.com/content/20101019-live-blo...er-19
Rue89- Violence, blockages, shortages: it does not weaken, it thickens
- http://eco.rue89.com/2010/10/19/nouvelle-journee-de-mob...71971
eng - http://tinyurl.com/3agjob6
Students at Sciences-Po Lyon held a general assembly to determine whether or not to block their university building in coming days.
French pension reform protests- Nanterre
Sarkozy has issued another tough message calling for a return to normality and an end to fuel blockades.
After the oil depots of Donges (Loire-Atlantique) and La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), released quietly by the police on the night of Wednesday 5am, the filing of Le Mans (Sarthe) it was also released Wednesday morning by riot police at about five o'clock in the morning.
"The right to strike exists, but does not give the right to block, to stop work and move," hammered Hortefeux , Minister of the Interior, on Wednesday morning
At Donges, strikers responded to the intervention of police blocking the way to the depot shut down since October 12. They stopped tankers on the roundabouts of access. "All the way to the depot just been blocked," says the head CGT refinery Christophe Hiou. The protesters deflated the tires of trucks on the roundabouts of access to make it impossible to finish the filing of fuel trucks.
http://tinyurl.com/3yobnz9 >
LIVE. Sarkozy ordered the release of all fuel depots > http://tinyurl.com/3a2tbv3
The police unlock three oil depots - strikers respond
These photos were taken at Paris XVIII University in Saint Denis, a working-class suburb north of Paris, in the morning of October 19, university professor Baptiste Coulmont writes:
Saint-Denis is part of the French administrative department Seine Saint-Denis, postal code 93, or 9-3 as is it familiarly known. Christophe Duman, a high school student in the suburb of Gonesses, in the neighbouring department, sent the photo of a flyer being passed around his school on October 19: The flyer reads:
via > http://observers.france24.com/content/20101019-live-blo...er-19
> http://coulmont.com/blog/2010/10/19/une-universite-bloq...is-8/
vid > manif 19/10/2010 dans le 93 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf9yuv_manif-19-10-201..._news + http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57HoYN3DGZg
calling all high school students in the 9-3 to blockade and protest!
Paris XVIII is completely blocked this morning, it was impossible for anyone to get in.
Saint Denis University, a working-class suburb north of Paris, morning of October 19
Caption: Video Id: 57HoYN3DGZg Type: Youtube Video
manif 19/10/2010 dans le 9
Said Britany Bidounga, a 16-year-old student from Pantin, on the northern edge of Paris, had helped blockade her school for a week, dragging wheelie bins and old furniture to create a barricade over the entrance.
Protests against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s unpopular pension reform in the French city of Lyon turned violent yesterday. Elsewhere in Paris demonstrators broke a police barricade and blocked access to the capital’s main airport, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle. Hundreds of striking refinery workers cut off access to Marseille airport in the southeast from dawn with a road block. Activists blocked access to Marseille Airport this morning. Around 200 demonstrators carrying armbands from the CGT and FSU unions had occupied a key roundabout leading to the airport in the early hours of the morning, but had ended their action by 8am (7am Irish time). The action had caused tailbacks of 7km, with some travellers having to abandon their cars to reach the terminals, an airport spokesman said.
A French union leader called on Thursday for strikes to be extended. Speaking on RMC radio, Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful CGT union, called for a new day of protests next week. “The government remains intransigent. We need to continue with massive action as soon as next week,” he said. “We will ask the unions for strong action that will allow people to stop work and go on to the streets.”
French police moved in on Wednesday to clear blockaded fuel depots as unions step up the pressure on the government. Security forces also intervened at to break up a number of demonstrations outside oil depots so operations can restart.
About a quarter of France's service stations had no fuel yesterday, and strikes also stopped work at two of France's three liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.
Action by lorry drivers threatens to aggravate the situation. The upper house of parliament was expected to vote on the text later today.
************
guardian.co.uk
independent.co.uk
euronews
irish
youtube
Strikers block the entrance to the Total refinery in Donges
Students shout slogans as they demonstrate with union workers in Paris against raising the retirement age to 62
An anti-riot policeman faces youths during clashes in Nanterre
Protesters run during clashes in Lyon
France burns as strike descends into violence
Caption: Video Id: j9XZ0CFNSUk Type: Youtube Video
Civil Unrest in Lyon
Caption: Video Id: -Je7Ur2Ggz4 Type: Youtube Video
Place Bellecour Manif Vs CRS - Fumigènes 19 octobre 2010
They should go the whole way and bring down the government, take over. Otherwise, all they will get are more crumbs.
UK> 3,000 people gathered in London to protest against the government's public spending cuts. Protesters break into government department. Spending review cuts trigger Downing Street protests. Hundreds of workers and students descend on Whitehall to noisily vent their anger against the sweeping cuts to welfare and public spending announced by the chancellor, George Osborne. Unions in the UK say they will fight tooth and nail to protect public services from the axe. They say there will be coordinated strike action if the government does not change its plans. They are angry at the banks whom they say will save billions by offsetting their losses during the financial crisis against tax.
Austria> Students in Austria have been joined by their university professors and deans to protest a budget freeze for higher education. They say mass staff lay-offs and even university closures are inevitable if more money is not made available. Rallies involving around 15,000 people were held yesterday and today in Vienna, Salzburg and Graz.
Ireland> Why the Irish aren't revolting
France > Austria ? - Demonstrators protest against government cuts
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/20/austrian-students-pr...cuts/
France > UK ? - Demonstrators protest against government cuts
Johann Hari: A colder, crueller country – for no gain
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johan....html
Demonstrators protest against government cuts.
About 3,000 people gathered in London to protest against the government's public spending cuts
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gallery/2010/oct/20/...-cuts
Protesters break into government department
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/20/protest-...eview
Three held as demonstrators take to streets in protest against cuts announced in comprehensive spending review
vid - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2010/oct/21/sp...tests
Cuts protest 20-10-10*
http://guy-smallman-photos.photoshelter.com/gallery-sli...start
Unions in the UK gear up for action ahead of cuts
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/20/unions-in-the-uk-gea...cuts/
UK Spending Review: George Osborne announces painful cuts
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/20/uk-spending-review-g...cuts/
Spending review cuts trigger Downing Street protests
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2010/oct/21/sp...tests
Hundreds of workers and students descend on Whitehall to noisily vent their anger against the sweeping cuts to welfare and public spending announced by the chancellor, George Osborne
Ireland> Why the Irish aren't revolting
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/oct/11/why...lting
UK> 3,000 people gathered in London to protest against the government's public spending cuts.
UK> Protesters break into government department.
Ireland> Why the Irish aren't revolting. Irish prefer to vent their anger against the country's multibillion euro bank rescue package by ringing up radio stations
WSM - Workers Solidarity Movement
SWP - Socialist Workers Party
Éirígí - For a Socialist Republic
People of Ireland - Rise UP
Éirígí - Workers in Struggle
1% NETWORK: Rising up...
c/o Irish Anarchist Review No 2
Caption: Video Id: SCOsOPrYce0 Type: Youtube Video
People of Ireland - Rise UP. Éirígí Anglo Irish Rooftop Protest,
Caption: Video Id: xngD3zBAFjw Type: Youtube Video
1% NETWORK: Dublin Shell to Sea spokesperson Caoimhe Kerins revealing the scale of the Gread Oil & Gas Giveaway outside of Shell HQ in Dublin.
French riot police have forcibly cleared access to the main refinery supplying fuel to Paris early on Friday as unions hardened their stance ahead of a final vote on President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reform expected later in the day. The authorities had served a legal decree during the night, requisitioning the oil supplies and effectively forcing the strikers back to work. Police and strikers scuffled at the Grandpuits refinery southeast of the capital and one person was carried away on a stretcher at first light. The police cleared pickets and a barricade of burning tyres.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy attacked the fuel protesters accusing them of “taking the French economy hostage.” He said he would clear the blockades, adding that the demonstrations would inevitably destroy jobs. Petrol pumps across France are running dry as strikes at oil refineries and major ports go on. Action at the country’s 213 fuel depots is also crippling distribution, leaving 25 percent of French service stations with no supplies.
The centre-right government resorted to a special guillotine procedure to speed the reform bill’s passage through the Senate, with a vote now due on Friday evening as pressure builds on Sarkozy to end the long-running impasse with the unions.
The country’s six main unions have called for two more days of action on October 28 and November 6 against the unpopular reform. “The protests are not stopping, we just have different views on how to proceed,” Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the more radical Force Ouvriere union told RMC radio. “We still think that demonstrating is not enough … we have to ramp it up … we need a strong day of public and private sector strikes.” “We had the “rafles” (roundups) during Petain’s time: now in the era of Sarkozy we have the roundup of our social and union rights,” said Charles Foulard, leader of the oil sector workers at the communist-led CGT union. “Sarkozy has declared war.”
Yet a poll for Canal Plus television broadcast on Friday showed an increase in support for the strikes from six days ago with 70 percent of French backing the industrial action. But the number of young protesters remains far smaller than in 1995 or 2006 and the transport disruption less widespread.
Fresh violence has broken out in France’s second city Lyon as protests against pension reforms grow more unpredictable. The interior minister claimed 2,257 youngsters had been arrested since France's lycéens (high school pupils) entered the protests on 12 October.
Police chased rampaging youths as they set fire to cars. Officers responded with tear gas and arrested 36 people. As many as 265 people have been taken into police custody since the unrest in the city began last week.
*****************
Reports
vids
French riot police have forcibly cleared access to the main refinery supplying fuel to Paris
Police and strikers scuffled at the Grandpuits refinery at first light
Caption: Video Id: ZZMoPFgJVjE Type: Youtube Video
French riot police break up fuel blockades
Caption: Video Id: 7vT3xuYzlDM Type: Youtube Video
2 Years Big Deal? France paralyzed over retirement age rise
"Peoples of Europe, Rise Up"
Yesterdary as Youth in France, Austria, UK protested against cuts due to austerity measures, there was, yet again, trouble between Greek students and the police. And we remember all that has been going on in Greece over the last few months, with their call last May as people stormed the Acropolis to raise a banner proclaiming; "Peoples of Europe, Rise Up", now with France stirring fiercely, with initial stirrings in the UK, after it has been dealt its "Britain’s Shock Doctrine", as referred to by George Monbiot, might Europe take up the call from Greece? Might the island of Ireland?
Reuters: Greek protests turn violent (vid)
- http://uk.reuters.com/news/video/story?videoId=16391350...el=75 + http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPgtn2qc9s4
From the Greek Streets (Irregular updates and articles on the situation in Greece, in English)
#400 | What’s French for “is this another winter of discontent”? Students march in Athens, clash with riot police
- http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2010/10/21/400-whats...lice/
Earlier reports from the Greek situation and how it might escalate wider throughout Europe and beyond...
Democracy Now!: "The People of Greece Are Fighting for the Whole of Europe": Tariq Ali and Mark Weisbrot Discuss Greece’s Economic Crisis and Popular Uprising
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/11/the_people_of_gre...hting
Strikes greet austerity measures in Greece
Greek public sector fights back, a lesson for Ireland?
- http://www.indymedia.ie/article/95711
Greek protestors hang banners on Acropolis (May 04 2010)
- http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/greek-prote....html
Greek workers stage general strike (May 20 2010)
- http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0520/....html
Greece: this is the war that was given up for dead
- http://barcelona.indymedia.org/?lang=en_US
Gerald Celente on Greece: People will rise against bank bailouts globally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFkeVFgPhU
"Whats happening in Greece will happen to the rest of the world, it will go global, it will be too much and the people will revolt", Gerald Celente speaking to RT in May.
GRECIA ATENE ACROPOLI "PEOPLES OF EUROPE RISE UP"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkvZUbKrvKg
"Peoples of Europe, Rise Up" Message from Greece has been taken up by France
France > Greece... "The People of Greece Are Fighting for the Whole of Europe", Tariq Ali
Caption: Video Id: GPgtn2qc9s4 Type: Youtube Video
Reuters: Greek protests turn violent
Caption: Video Id: WNFkeVFgPhU Type: Youtube Video
Gerald Celente on Greece: People will rise against bank bailouts globally
“Peoples of Europe, Rise Up” Greece’s message being taken up by France, and maybe beyond too?
THE FRENCH senate last night approved President Nicolas Sarkozy’s controversial pension reform, but trade unions vowed to maintain their campaign with further strikes and protests.
After a long and acrimonious debate, which the government hastened to an end by invoking a rarely used constitutional clause, the upper house adopted the pensions Bill by 177 votes to 153.
This debate be wholly alien to anyone who has been following events in Britain this week. It, too, is about fairness and social justice. As the basic provisions of the welfare state are being rolled back all over Europe, in the name of protecting triple-A credit ratings, a cause is being fought in France which we in Britain would do well to watch carefully. The same fight could be coming here soon.
Today 15,000 protest austerity cuts in Belfast. Perhaps it will come sooner rather than later.
And in the Republic of Ireland??? We wait and see. Johann Hari stated 2 days ago that "(Ireland) has suffered the worst collapse in the developed world." You would expect more of an outrage from the people..
************
“Peoples of Europe, Rise Up” Greece’s message being taken up by France, and maybe beyond too?
http://itsafunnyoldworld.wordpress.com/
French lessons: pension protests
As the welfare state is rolled back all over Europe, a cause is being fought in France which we would do well to watch
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/23/fre...orial
France wakes up to unpopular pension reform
http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/23/france-wakes-up-to-u...form/
Senate approves controversial pension changes
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1023/122...a=rel
The scuffle, the tension, the gas
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/1023/1....html
15,000 protest austerity cuts in Belfast
http://bit.ly/9d6Vnc
vids
Gerald Celente on Greece: People will rise against bank bailouts globally (Russia Today)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFkeVFgPhU
"Storming of the Dáil" - Leinster House protests, 11th May
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Zcv8-oLUM
Shock Doctrine in Europe, are we seeing the initial response? Greece, France, UK...
Young, angry, informed, on the streets. Why are Irish youth not following the french?
Caption: Video Id: WNFkeVFgPhU Type: Youtube Video
Gerald Celente on Greece: People will rise against bank bailouts globally (Russia Today)
Caption: Video Id: k9Zcv8-oLUM Type: Youtube Video
"Storming of the Dáil" - Leinster House protests, 11th May
she's hot too!
For my eyes she looks a lot cooler than your comment.