Striking French truckers stop traffic
Striking truckers blocked roads in about 20 places across France today after management and two top unions failed to strike a deal in last-ditch pay talks.
The government has vowed not to let the protests get out of hand and damage an already fragile economy.
“The strike is legal, but the blockades that immobilise the country, that prevent families from coming together or workers from getting to their jobs have no place,” Transport Minister Gilles de Robien said.
But police generally left the truckers to set up the blockades unmolested, although two drivers who were setting up a roadblock were taken into custody in the southeast Drome region.
Most of the roadblocks let cars through and targeted only trucks, but four cut off roads completely.
Elsewhere, some truckers drove at a snail’s pace to block roads, but few regions reported major and delays.
It was too early to tell what the economic consequences would be, but France is a major western European artery for deliveries of goods from places like Britain, Spain and Portugal to the rest of the continent.
Late last night, dozens of truckers lined up cars to block access to a car park at a regional food market near the northern city of Lille that usually receives hundreds of delivery trucks every night.
In southern Marseille, truckers set up a roadblock early today that allowed selective access to the Marseille Provence airport, the striking CFDT union said.
Riot police took up positions at several oil refineries in the country out of fears that the roadblocks could spill over to major industrial sites.
Before the strike, truckers vowed to extend their protest to fuel depots and other targets if talks stalled far beyond yesterday’s deadline for a deal with bosses.
Protest-friendly France is no stranger to massive traffic jams caused by striking truckers.
Broad blockades by truckers in the winter of 1996-97 nearly brought France’s roads to a standstill for two weeks and caused economic havoc.
France’s two largest unions to represent truckers, the Communist-backed CGT and CFDT, led the strike today after their demands for higher salaries and an extra month’s pay were not met in talks over the weekend.
Four smaller unions did come to a deal with management, however, agreeing to a 14% increase in annual pay over three years.
Leaders of the striking unions criticised the rival groups that reached that deal, saying there were now sharp divisions within the truckers’ ranks.
“The unions that have engaged in this bad deal a few hours before the start of the conflict are on the road to dividing workers and creating an entirely new conflict,” said Francois Chereque, secretary general of the CFDT.
