France faces more road blockades, transport strike
PARIS: French truckers protesting against changes to work hours were
preparing widespread road blockades on Sunday which, coinciding with public
transport strikes on Tuesday, looked set to wreak havoc with traffic this
week.
Truckers' unions said road blocks should be in place across the country by
Sunday night, marking their opposition to the way a new law cutting the
working week to 35 from 39 hours
is set to be implemented in their sector.
Barricades were already being set up on key motorways, near large towns and
at various border points at around 1800 GMT on Sunday. They were likely to
remain at least into
Tuesday, when the 35-hour week becomes law, union officials said.
Tuesday will also see Paris public transport disrupted by strikes by Metro,
suburban train and bus drivers over how the 35-hour week will affect them.
However, union officials said direct routes into Paris should not be
affected by the road blockades.
"The FO, CGT, CFDT and FNCR unions are calling truckers to set up blockades
from 2200 or 2300 (local) at border points and in regions like the Rhone or
Haute-Garonne," said Roger Poletti, Secretary General of the Force Ouvriere
(FO) union, one of four unions calling on members to protest.
The blockades, already condemned by Dutch exporters, will coincide with a
national "go-slow" in Germany as trucking firms there protest against a new
tax which has hiked diesel prices.
The French truckers oppose a newly hammered out 35-hour accord due to be
implemented during 2000 for haulage firms with more than 20 employees and
are demanding a real cut in hours without a loss in wages and guarantees of
job creation.
"We have a lack of staff and pay rises have been rare for some years," said
Poletti.
Ironically, their action comes on the heels of crippling road blocks staged
earlier in January by haulage bosses scared that putting drivers on a
35-hour week would leave them at a serious disadvantage to unrestricted
foreign rivals.
A government deal to pacify haulage bosses, letting them fix monthly rather
than weekly limits on hours, has been rejected by truck drivers who fear
they will end up working long hours in busy weeks for no extra pay.
Transport unions are also calling for members such as ambulance drivers to
strike on Monday. Ground staff at Air France plan action on Tuesday over the
35-hour week.
The action is the latest in a succession of strikes in recent months linked
to the 35-hour week. Thousands of doctors and nurses took to the streets on
Friday threatening to block
the reform unless the government ploughed more money into the health system.
Hospital unions plan more action on Wednesday.
The disputes are casting over a shadow over the showcase labour reform, a
secondary aim of which was to seal better accords with unions in a bid to
reduce industrial disputes.
Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin made the 35-hour week a priority
after taking power in mid-1997 as a tool against the country's persistent
unemployment, currently 10.6 percent.
For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
|Disclaimer|
For comments and feedback send Email
Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 1999.