French Protesters Hit the Streets

President Sarkozy, you’re on notice. On Tuesday, French protesters took to the streets en masse to send the message that they do not approve of their president’s move to change the country’s official retirement age.  —KA

The Washington Post:

Hundreds of thousands of French workers, students and functionaries walked out on strike Tuesday and paraded through the streets in what labor unions described as the beginning of a long-term showdown with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Air and rail service throughout the country was disrupted by the protests—the fourth in a month.

They were aimed specifically at reversing a new law requiring people to work until age 62 rather than 60 before receiving their retirement pensions. But they also were a platform for broader-based political resentments that have been building among France’s salary-earners, many of whom view Sarkozy’s government as callous and too close to big business.

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AP / Thibault Camus

Protesters throng the streets of Paris on Tuesday.