French strikes lose steam, garbage workers return

Garbage collectors began tackling Marseille's reeking mounds of trash Tuesday and a few French oil refineries geared up to restart operations as the battle against a higher retirement age lost some momentum.

Nationwide protests and strikes over raisig the retirement age from 60 to 62 have disrupted French life and the country's economy for weeks, canceling trains, causing school closures and shutting down one gas station in four.

University students, pledging to keep the movement going, planned demonstrations in 20 French cities Tuesday. Unions have called for another nationwide day of demonstrations Thursday - but by that point, the retirement reform will have passed its final hurdles in France's parliament.

French unions see retirement at 60 as a cherished social benefit. But President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government says raising the retirement age is the only way to save the money-losing pension system because French people are living longer. It also points out that a retirement age of 62 is still among the lowest in Europe.

"This is a reform that isn't brutal, it's a necessary reform and at the same time reasonable," Labor Minister Eric Woerth told France-Info radio Tuesday.

Striking garbage collectors in Marseille faced 9,000 tons of garbage that have piled up in the streets in the last two weeks. The FO union voted Monday evening to end the protest out of concerns over "hygiene and safety." City authorities said it would take four to five days before France's second-largest city starts looking, and smelling, like itself.

Nine oil refineries are still blocked by strikers, but workers at three plants voted to return to the job Monday. It is expected to take a few days for them to fully resume operations.

Workers remained off the job at the strategic Grandpuits refinery near Paris and said the three plants going back to work still won't prevent fuel shortages.

"It does not change the situation. It is going to be a big issue for the government," said striker Alexandre Femlak.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has estimated the daily price tag for the strikes at between euro200 million ($278 million) and euro400 million ($557 million).

Senators are voting on the retirement bill for a final time on Tuesday - and university students plan to demonstrate outside the 17th century building in Paris' Luxembourg Gardens.

The lower chamber, the National Assembly, casts its ballots on Wednesday - and the bill is nearly certain to pass.