French protesters defy unions over fuel blockade

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

French protesters defy unions over fuel blockade Union leader Luc Guyau has vainly called for blockade to end September 9, 2000 Web posted at: 4:55 AM EDT (0855 GMT)

LONDON -- The French fuel blockade that began last Sunday looked certain to continue throughout the weekend as protesting truck drivers and farmers ignored calls from their own union leaders to accept government concessions and end their action.

And as 80 percent of French service stations ran out of fuel, unrest was mounting in Britain and Italy with drivers conducting blockades of fuel depots and staging go-slow processions along major motorways.

Early on Saturday morning, French farmers groups joined the largest transport union, the National Road Hauliers Federation (FNTR), in a call to end the blockade, raising the prospect that the campaign would wind down over the weekend.

IN-DEPTH French Petrol Crisis

Interactive Trouble spots Pricing fuel Oil production

Features France: A nation of strikers? TIME: Jospin's troubled waters

Video Fuel strikes Price protests France standing firm French fuel tax

Message board Rising oil prices

RESOURCES Comparison of petrol prices in the US and Europe The presidents of the two main agricultural unions FNSEA and CNJA, Luc Guyau and Jean-Luc Duval, said the protest action should end after they obtained petrol tax relief from the government worth 450 million francs (US$60 million).

But by Saturday morning (GMT), only a dozen blockades had been lifted with more than 100 still being manned by transport union members and farmers ignoring the call from their own leaders to end the blockade.

Ambulance drivers added their weight to the continuing dispute when they said would continue their blockade of oil depots after talks with government officials broke down.

Many members of the powerful FNTR reportedly switched allegiance to the second-largest -- and more militant -- freight federation, UNOSTRA, as they vowed to continue the blockade until the government offered greater concessions on fuel tax.

Friday night talks between the government and the FTNR culminated in the government offering a one billion franc (US$133 million) tax cut package in the hope it would be enough to end the road blocks threatening to cripple the recovering French economy.

"We've voted on it and we don't agree with the agreement they've worked out in Paris. We're staying," said an FNTR member at the roadblock outside the major oil refinery at Donges on the Atlantic coast.

The presidents of FNSEA and CNJA said the protest action should end after they had obtained an offer from the government to reduce fuel taxes by about 15 percent.

"Considering this progress, and in the general interest of the country, I ask farmers to lift the barricades in the coming hours," FNSEA head Luc Guyau said in a statement.

The CNJA said it had decided "with bitterness...to suspend the movement."

But union members appeared intent on holding out for more concessions closer to the generous package offered to the French fishermen who initiated France's oil protests last week by blockading ports. The government is believed to have offered cuts worth up to 30 percent to the fishermen.

Unrest spreads In Wales, Britain's third largest refinery owned by Texaco was blockaded by truck drivers disgruntled at the high cost of fuel, while another depot in northern England was also targeted.

Hundreds of Italian fishermen have threatened to blockade ports unless their government offers tax relief on fuel.

The broader European implications of the growing unrest has prompted finance ministers from the European Union to meet to discuss the high cost of fuel and the collapse of the euro single currency.

Meanwhile, oil ministers from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have taken moderate steps towards stabilising -- if not lowering -- the cost of crude oil.

The cartel's dominant member and only one with significant excess capacity, Saudi Arabia, has said it would aim to reduce the oil price to about $28 a barrel from its current price above the $30 mark.

But analysts remained sceptical that the proposed increases in production would have such an impact.

"The increased production being touted by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait is not going to be enough to dent the price," Chase Manhattan analyst Adrian Schmidt told CNN.

"It may stabilise the oil price but it will not fall below $30 a barrel," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/france/09/09/france.protests/index.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 09, 2000

Answers

The saga continues. Stay tuned to you local GICC page for all the latest updates.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 09, 2000.

I wonder just how long it takes, for an upheaval like this one in France, to bring a country to its knees.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), September 09, 2000.

Hard to believe. A 15% cave in on taxes to the truckers, and a 30% cave in to the fishermen. Sure, taxes should come down. But, not as a direct result of this kind of pressure. It only invites more of same, time and time again.

-- Billiver (billiver@aol.com), September 09, 2000.

I believe the collapse of the Euro is the hidden underpinning to all of this. It's only a matter of time before this collapse impacts stock markets throughout the world.

-- Wellesley (wellesley@freeport.net), September 09, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ