Sarkozy battles protesters over oil

The refinery at Grandpuits had been a bastion of resistance to

President Nicolas Sarkozy's bid to raise the retirement age to 62. Despite the government's efforts to conquer union resistance, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said it will take several more days to end petrol shortages that are taking a toll on France's economy.

The French Senate neared the end of a debate that has taken more than 130 hours, the second-longest debate in 30 years in the Senate. MPs – mostly opposition Socialists – submitted a staggering 1,237 amendments, but Sarkozy's conservative UMP party and its allies have a majority and dismissed nearly all the amendments.

After yesterday's Senate vote, the final text goes back to both houses for final formal approval, which is expected next week.

Unions oppose a pillar of the reform – raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 – and have staged months of strikes and protests that have boiled over into radical action and scattered clashes.

Sarkozy had ordered regional authorities to intervene and force open depots, accusing the strikers of holding ordinary people and the French economy "hostage".

The Interior Ministry said the operation at the Grandpuits fuel refinery succeeded "without incident", but the CGT union said three workers were injured.

Emergency workers took stretchers to the depot, 50 miles east of Paris, the closest source of petrol supplies to the French capital.

Helmeted officers in body armour descended on Grandpuits on Thursday night, confronting workers who shoved back and shouted union slogans as they sought to keep police from opening the gates to the depot, run by oil giant Total SA.

"We are outraged, scandalised," said Charles Foulard, a union leader at the Grandpuits depot.

Workers have been camped for 10 days in front of the site, blocking access and contributing to widespread fuel shortages. Yesterday about 20 per cent of France's petrol stations were still empty, down from 40 per cent earlier in the week.

Sarkozy says the overhaul is vital to ensure that future generations receive pensions. It is a choice many European governments are facing as populations live longer and government debts soar.

But French unions say retirement at 60 is a hard-earned right, and claim the working class will be unfairly punished by the pension reform. They also fear this is just the first step in ending an entire network of benefits that make France an enviable place to work and live.

Earlier yesterday, police also broke a picket line at a fuel depot in Grand Quevilly in western France. Police had forced it open earlier this week, but defiant protesters blocked it again on Thursday.

The head of the national petrol industry body, Jean-Louis Schilansky, said the country was struggling to import fuel to make up for the shortfall, because strikers were also blockading two key oil terminals – in Le Havre and Marseilles. Dozens of tankers yesterday remained anchored in the waters off Marseille, unable to unload.

"The problem isn't so much finding the oil, it is getting it into the country," he said.