- Title: FRANCE: Refinery workers down tools as officials worry about fuel shortages
- Date: 14th October 2010
- Summary: GRANDPUITS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 13, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORSO OF THE TOTAL GRANDPUITS REFINERY, SOUTHEAST OF PARIS (4 SHOTS) STRIKING WORKERS OUTSIDE REFINERY FLAGS SHOP STEWARD WITH THE CGT TRADES UNION, FRANCK MANCHON, WALKING PAST CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (French) CGT TRADES UNION SHOP STEWARD, FRANCK MANCHON, SAYING: "One: the refinery is no longer producing an
- Embargoed: 29th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA68FWNOHV68NKED1KGS1EGDIBC
- Story Text: Strikers blocked fuel supplies at eight out of 12 refineries in France on Wednesday (September 13), according to unions whose member said they were willing to bring the country to a halt in order to force the government to climb down over planned pension reforms.
Production at five refineries, including four operated by the Total energy group, are to shut down progressively, a process that can take several days.
At the Grandpuits refinery about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Paris, strikers said they had voted on merely slowing production and halting deliveries, along with the six other Total refineries where the supply of fuel was stopped as protests against the government grow.
But management at the installation ruled that the refinery should be totally closed down, said Franck Manchon, a shop steward with the CGT union, one of France's four big labour federations that are battling the reforms.
"The refinery is no longer producing and is being shut down. That means that by Thursday night, the refinery will be completely halted. And that will place a big question mark over how easy it'll be to start it up again," he said.
Manchon said the closure was unprecedented and warned that it could take up to two weeks to get the refinery going again once it had been fully closed down.
Behind him, the refinery entrance had been decked in union flags and banners criticising the government's plan to lift the retirement age by two years to age 62 by 2018.
Manchon told Reuters Television that unions were willing to bring the country to a halt through forcing fuel shortages.
"Neither unions nor employees want to shut the country down - we will be the first to suffer the consequences. But that is what is going to happen because of the various management and especially of the government, which is in a state of unbelievable autism."
Oil sector lobby UFIP said shortages could start affecting petrol stations on the mainland in just over a week, if the 17-day-old strike at the Fos-Lavera oil hub continued and assuming blockages at refineries would not last.
On Friday, UFIP had estimated fuel supplies to motorists would not be affected for another one to two weeks. The Fos-Lavera oil hub, which distributes oil mainly to refineries located in the south of France, begins its 17th day of striking.
More than 50 vessels were still blocked from entering or leaving Fos-Lavera on Tuesday, bringing nearby oil refineries close to a full shutdown.
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