French Fos-Lavera strike blocks 61 ships

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters

PARIS Oct 17 (Reuters) - A three-week old strike at the French oil hub of Fos-Lavera to protest pension reform and working conditions is blocking 61 ships from unloading cargo, the port authority said on Sunday.

The strikers want job guarantees as part of a port reform and are also protesting against President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reforms that raise the retirement age to 62 from 60, which has already sparked several waves of nationwide protests.

The strikes at Fos-Lavera, France's largest oil port, has helped squeeze the nation's fuel supply, creating fears it could run short of both crude oil and refined products.

Of the ships unable to dock because of the strike, 29 carry crude oil and 18 refined oil products. Ten carry butane gas and 4 are loaded with chemicals. (Reporting by Nina Sovich; Editing by Will Waterman)



Read more: http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE69G05820101017

[JDPriestly]

1. Why shouldn't the high profits, the reduced labor costs that technology

and outsourcing have brought to the big corporations being shared a bit across society?

My mother told me that much of the unemployment in the 1930s was due to the rapid technological progress made in the 1920s. Here we are again, but we did not learn a thing.

[reggie the dog]

2. way to go union members!

i will be on the strike lines in my town on tuesday again.....

[readmoreoften]

3. THANK YOU!

I love strikers and strike supporters. It's the most important thing anyone can do.