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PARIS – Workers opposed to a higher retirement age blocked roads to
airports around France on Wednesday, leaving passengers in Paris
dragging suitcases on foot along an emergency breakdown lane.

Outside the capital, hooded youths smashed store windows amid clouds of tear gas.

Riot police in black body armor forced striking
workers away from blocked fuel depots in western France, restoring
gasoline to areas where pumps were dry after weeks of protests over the
government proposal raising the age from 60 to 62.

Riot officers in the Paris suburb of Nanterre and the
southeastern city of Lyon sprayed tear gas but appeared unable to stop
the violence.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said both the strikes and the violence were taking an economic toll.

"I'm calling on people to be responsible, in
particular those who are having a roaring time blocking access and
breaking things," she said in an interview with TF1 television. "It's
serious for our country."

After months of largely peaceful disruptions, some
protests erupted into scattered violence this week over the government's
push to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. President Nicolas
Sarkozy vowed that his conservative party would pass the reform in a
Senate vote expected Thursday.

Many workers feel the change would be a first step in
eroding Fr... >>>