- Title: French unionists blockade oil depot in western France at dawn
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: SIGN READING (French): "ROAD BLOCKED" WITH UNION STICKERS ON IT WORKERS STANDING BEHIND PILES OF DIRT AND ROCKS WHICH ARE BLOCKING THE ROAD WORKER PLACING UNION FLAG ON METAL STRUCTURE WORKERS STANDING BEHIND PILES OF DIRT AND ROCKS
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 09:25
- Keywords: France protests strike blockade electricity fuel oil nuclear
- Location: DONGES, FRANCE
- City: DONGES, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0024JB2SLJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of union workers blocked the road to an oil depot in the west of France on Wednesday (May 25) at daybreak, as general strikes and protests continued against France's deeply unpopular proposed labour reforms.
As union workers in Donges, near Nantes, lit flares and built roadblocks out of tires and wood, the hardline CGT union prepared to strike at a nuclear plant, escalating a standoff over proposed new labour laws.
France has also mobilised its emergency motor fuel stocks for the first time since 2010, a spokeswoman for oil lobby group UFIP said.
Ministers went on radio morning shows to say the government would stand firm, while CGT chief Philippe Martinez told RTL radio that his union, one of the most powerful in France, would press on with its strikes.
Union representative and railway agent Damien Girard said the reforms, which the government says are crucial to fighting rampant unemployment stuck at over 10 percent of the workforce, favour the financial sector over the well-being of workers.
"In today's France, which values social responsibility, this is a direct attack against the labour code. The labour code in France is one that protects workers and employees. And the reform that has been implemented and which was passed directly in the national assembly using the 49.3 (constitutional clause that allows a bill to pass without being put to a vote), it attacks every protection that exists for employees and introduces measures that favour businesses, generally the financial sector and shareholders, at the expense of quality of life, salaries and workers' protections," Girard said.
So far the strikes have affected oil depots and refineries, triggering shortages. Train and metro strikes have been announced too.
The nuclear plant strike is a further escalation of a conflict that also threatens to affect the Euro 2016 football championship, which starts on June 10 in France.
"We didn't imagine we would block the whole country. We thought that through demonstrations, dialogue and negotiation, we could rearrange the deeper wording of the law, seeing that there are many harmful clauses that would mean the elimination of the law. Unfortunately democratic choice has been completely put aside, the unions were not consulted, the discussion procedures at the national assembly were disregarded as well, so we chose to strike in order to make ourselves heard and it ended up paralysing the nation's economy," he said.
The government has accused the CGT of taking the country hostage, but Girard says workers only want to be heard. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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