France’s hardline CGT and FO unions toughened their stance against labour market reforms on Monday by launching a strike at oil and LNG terminals, and blockading a fuel depot in the southern port city of Marseille.
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French oil and gas company Total, which operates five of the eight refineries in France, has started the process of shutting down three, at Normandy, Donges and Feyzin, while its Grandpuits refinery was running at minimum output.
Why: The CGT union is protesting the labour laws. EDF energy suppliers say it all depends on how many people join the strike but unions believe a drop in production will prompt power cuts.
The government is trying to rejigger rules governing the work week, overtime pay and other labor protections, something opponents say will weaken protections without promoting job creation.
The CGT union reacted angrily to the overnight police advance on the depot at Fos-sur-Mer, where trucks resumed traffic Tuesday morning.
There are also strikes among maritime transport, particularly in Marseille, where ports are connected to the oil refineries that have been targeted by strikers.
Fifteen percent of flights out of Paris Orly airport may be cancelled, while metro train operators and rail workers are also threatening to go on strike.
A fuel crisis in France seems to be getting worse as more and more petrol stations run dry.
Le Point reported that out of France’s 12,000 service stations, 816 are completely out of fuel and a further 800 did not have one type of fuel.
The Total refinery and petrochemical complex at Gonfreville-L’Orcher, outside the English Channel port city of Le Havre, was almost deserted Wednesday, save for a skeleton staff keeping the machinery going.
Opponents say the reforms will erode job security and do little to bring down the unemployment rate, stuck at 10% and almost 25% for young people.
“If our colleagues want to take an industrial asset hostage for a cause that is foreign to the company, you have to ask whether that is where we should invest”, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne told reporters. Unions are calling for the government to scrap the bill altogether, but French Prime Minister Manual Valls said Sunday on BFM TV blockades won’t change the government’s plan to continue working on the law. We are on track to stay until we have the withdrawal of the labor law.
But unions have vowed to keep up their protest against the governments controversial labour reforms, which are due to be debated in the Senate on June 14, after being forced through the Assembly without a vote.
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A few minutes’ drive from France, in Hertain, Belgium, 24-year-old lorry driver Amazigh was grateful for the lifeline.
