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Truckers threaten French blockade
PARIS, France -- French truckers' unions called on members to prepare to launch a nationwide blockade on Sunday night after rejecting pay offers at crisis talks on Friday. Talks with employers are set to continue at 3 p.m. Saturday, but CGT union negotiator Alain Arquier said it would take "a miracle" to broker a deal. CGT and CFDT, the two main unions, accused the government of letting things get out of hand and issued a joint statement urging truckers to "mobilise for action." Truckers are demanding higher pay and shorter hours. A strike could bring economic chaos to France during the Christmas consumer rush and could affect Britain, Spain, Italy and other trading partners. Unions have said truckers would slow traffic on roads across France, as well as block access to petrol stations, toll booths and fuel depots. CGT leaders said pay offers presented by road haulage employers on Friday were nowhere close to satisfying their demands. "It's worthless. It's unacceptable," said Jean-Pierre Remy, one of the negotiators from the CGT union. The dispute revived uncomfortable memories for the government of truckers' protests in 1992, 1996 and 1997 that paralysed large parts of the country, disrupting food, freight and petrol transport. The five-month old centre-right government is anxious in particular to prevent a repetition of the wave of social unrest that swept through the country from 1995 and ultimately led to the demise of the government two years later. "The government will do the necessary to ensure that the normal functioning of this country's economy is not threatened," said Dominique Bussereau, France's transportation secretary. "The economies of France and Europe are at stake," he told Europe-1 radio. Separately, a farmers' union called an end to blockades outside some 60 food storage depots around France, saying it had reached an agreement with supermarkets in a pricing dispute.
"We have just signed an accord committing distributors to new commercial links with suppliers," union leader Jean-Michel Lemetayer told Reuters on Friday. Lemetayer, president of the FNSEA union leading the blockades, spoke to reporters following negotiations with retail sector representatives in Paris. Farmers had erected roadblocks at large food depots on Wednesday, cutting off new supplies of fresh produce to many French supermarkets. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin praised the FNSEA farm union for agreeing a deal and urged truckers to do likewise. "I welcome the responsible attitude of the president of the FNSEA, as well as retail industry heads," he said. "We need to see everybody acting the way the farmers and retailers have." The European Commission has reminded France that it is obliged under EU rules to ensure the free circulation of goods on its roads -- something neighbouring countries say Paris should have pursued more energetically in previous disputes. Oil companies, supermarkets and households across France began preparing for chaos if the truckers go ahead with the blockade. Figures released on Friday showed the French economy had barely grown in the third quarter, expanding by just 0.2 percent or about half the rate predicted by most economists. TotalFinaElf, the largest oil refiner in France and Europe, said on Wednesday it had raised oil stocks at depots to maximum levels to forestall supply disruption by truckers, according to Reuters. Local television stations said queuing had already started at a petrol station outside the western city of Nantes as people filled their tanks in anticipation of a supply crunch.
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