French strikes costing $570 million a day

Nationwide labour action continues ahead of Wednesday's vote to pass controversial pension reforms.

A French official has estimated that strikes across the country are costing between $200-570 million every day and damaging France’s reputation as a tourist haven. Workers have blocked access to oil refineries, causing one in four French gas stations to run dry, and work stoppages at trash incinerators have seen 9,000 tonnes of garbage pile up in the streets of Marseilles. Unions are furious at the government’s plan to increase the national retirement age from 60 to 62, which will go to a parliamentary vote on Wednesday and is all but guaranteed to pass. President Nicolas Sarkozy has stood firm, saying pension reform is necessary to adjust to longer life expectancy’s and the country’s skyrocketing debt.