Paris, France (AHN) – In an attempt to ensure fuel supplies disrupted by nationwide strikes in response to the government’s controversial pension reforms, French authorities on Wednesday forced fuel depots to reopen.

Three fuel depots at Donges, La Rochelle, and Le Mans faced the broken blockades, while the rest of the French refineries remained closed.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said the depots opened without any violent incidents, but warned rioters against torching cars, trashing stores or injuring police. “The right to strike does not give anyone the right to prevent people from working or the right to block things, or the right to prevent travel,” he said.

The minister also threatened to use paramilitary police to halt the nationwide protests. Hortefeux said the violence had hit after months of largely peaceful demonstrations, forcing authorities to detain nearly 1,400 in just the last seven days.

The minister further expressed fears that the fuel depot blockades could threaten emergency services, which the entire French economy as well as public health and safety system would have to bear. “These acts are not only unacceptable, but they are also irresponsible,” he added.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the controversial reforms Thursday. However, labor unions urged the government to reconsider its proposal, claiming the bill might threaten hard-earned French social protections.

Meanwhile, the largest French union, CGT, has called on the country’s airports to launch fresh strikes. The government has also faced criticism from opposition Socialists, which called on the government to renegotiate the proposal.

Former Socialist Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, in a statement, said that if President Nicolas Sarkozy would agree to talk to trade unions, the blockages could be stopped in no time.

According to a Libération newspaper’s poll, 79 percent of Frenchmen want the Sarkozy administration to resume talks with the unions.

Despite the calls and continued incidences of violence, Sarkozy’s government remained adamant in its plans and argued that it had become important to save the money-losing pension system.

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