Ah, the French

Steven Erlanger and Alan Cowell have an article in The New York Times about problems in France:

Scattered clashes continued around the country, particularly in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre and in the eastern city of Lyon, and gas stations across France were still starved of fuel despite police operations at three fuel depots that ended blockades.
President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the police to reopen all the blocked fuel depots and warned of economic dislocations from the continued protests against his determined effort to change France’s retirement plan. “If this disorder is not ended quickly, the attempt to paralyze the country could have consequences for jobs by disrupting the normal functioning of the economy,” Mr. Sarkozy told his cabinet in remarks released by his office.
With a final vote on the pension overhaul now not likely until the middle of next week, unions announced that they were considering another day of demonstrations. But some union leaders acknowledged that time was running against them, and some quietly acknowledged concern that the largest and most radical French union might be pushing the protests too far. That union, the C.G.T., was once allied with the Communist Party. It is the largest union among refinery, port, gas, and power workers, some of whom are more radical than the union’s leadership.
François Chérèque, head of the second largest French union, the C.F.D.T., called on demonstrators to remain calm and not to give in to provocations, while the white-collar union, the C.F.E.-C.G.C., announced that Tuesday’s demonstration would be its last. Its president, Bernard Van Craeynest, said that in the face of excesses, “it will be necessary without doubt to pause to reorient the actions” of the unions. He added, “We find ourselves in a situation where the movement is going in all directions.”
But with the more radical union members deployed at choke points for fuel and gasoline supplies, and with more young people protesting, the tone of the demonstrations became more aggressive, making it easier for Mr. Sarkozy to try to shift the public’s focus to the restoration of order.
In Nanterre, youths with hoods and scarves to hide their faces clashed with riot police officers near a high school that was the site of earlier violence, and in Lyon protesters looted stores and fought with the police, sometimes setting fire to cars. Tear gas was used.
The interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, warned rioters: “The right to protest is not the right to break things, the right to set things on fire, the right to assault, the right to pillage.” He added: “We will use all means necessary to get these delinquents.”
The Interior Ministry said that 21 fuel depots had been unblocked since Friday, and that about 1,500 people had been apprehended for violations of social order, 428 of them on Tuesday. There were also work stoppages at two of France’s three terminals for liquefied natural gas, but no immediate risk of shortages.
Drivers hunted for gasoline, some of them calling the police to ask what stations still had supplies. Often refills were limited to about eight gallons. France’s eleven active refineries remain on strike, though officials ordered employees at one to return to work. France has been importing large amounts of electricity, and prices have been rising.
Protesters intermittently blocked the highway to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, forcing some passengers to walk along the roadside with their luggage. Intercity rail services were running at two-thirds their normal schedule, and regional rail at about half, officials said.
In Marseille, officials said they would use 150 city employees to help clear away mounds of garbage, while some protesters used trucks to block tunnels in the early morning and shut down bus and tram services. The port remained closed, with some fifty oil tankers waiting offshore to unload. Demonstrators also tried to block airports in Nantes, Toulouse, and Clermont-Ferrand.
The political scientist Jacques Capdevielle noted with surprise that while only four percent of French workers were unionized, credible polls showed that a majority of the French supported the strike.
Jean-François Copé, parliamentary leader of Mr. Sarkozy’s party, said that this was “the week of truth” on the pension overhaul and emphasized “the cohesion of the majority and the government” on the change, saying, “There is no other solution to save our pension system.” He then criticized the opposition Socialist Party for promoting the demonstrations without a viable legislative alternative and for calling students, whose weeklong school holiday starts on Friday, into the streets. He said he was appalled that “a handful of people have taken the economy of our country hostage by blocking the fuel depots.”
Prime Minister François Fillon said in the National Assembly that the protests would fade once the law was in place. He cited other pension changes, in 1993, 2003, and 2007, that had also prompted protests, but “progressively became the law of the republic, accepted by a very large majority.” He added that “social confrontation is part of our democracy, but social consensus is, as well.” He did not mention 1995, when widespread protests caused the government to drop an earlier pension change.