Say what you like about the French, but they don't take any shit from their government...

Sarkozy stands firm as pension protests escalate

More than 3 million demonstrators – one in 20 of all French people – marched yesterday against the President's plans to raise the standard retirement age from 60 to 62. Tens of thousands of students joined the marches for the first time, threatening to radicalise the protests and broaden them into a rebellion against a deeply unpopular presidency.

Militant union branches in the railway and oil-refining industries were pushing last night for a showdown with Mr Sarkozy, who has made reform of the loss-making state pension system the make-or-break issue of his final 20 months in office.

Link:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sarkozy-stands-firm-as-pension-protests-escalate-2105000.html