Strikes continue in France

[Hannah Bell]

Workers and students continued to mount strike action over the weekend against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension cuts in the face of anti-strike injunctions issued by national and regional authorities. The government was particularly concerned about the risk of oil and gasoline shortages today, the first day of the All Saints Week holiday.

France’s 12 refineries were still officially on strike, though at least three—Fos, Donges and Grandpuits—have been raided by police, who forced workers to suspend their occupations and pump oil to resupply gas stations. Nevertheless, strikes and blockades of oil depots continued, with the Donges and Feyzin refineries voting to stay on strike all week.

The attorney for Donges workers filed a suit yesterday to block further requisitions of oil at the refinery. Dmitri Guiller, an official of the Donges branch of the French and Democratic Labor Federation (CFDT), told Libération that “all of the refinery’s personnel” had been requisitioned.

Also at Donges, 100 strikers and protestors blockaded four tugs in port, preventing them from hauling in an oil tanker so it could unload its supplies.

While the government had announced late last week that only one in five of France’s gas stations was out of fuel, Sarkozy’s counselor for social affairs, Raymond Soubie, told Europe1 Sunday that “overall, one gas station out of four does not have supplies.” However, he said that only 5 stations of the 350 on France’s main highways would be out of fuel.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/fran-o25.shtml

[Ken Burch]

1. We need to be like the French!

If our leaders saw that kind of fight from working people here, we'd have a very different country.

[Jester Messiah]

6. Exactly right.

The French know how to stare down their government. We all should have such resolve.

[LAGC]

2. I wonder how much revenue France is losing due to less tourism?

If this goes on long enough, it might have just been cheaper for France to keep the retirement age where it was to begin with and not piss people off!

[regnaD kciN]

3. Wrong time of the year for tourist season...

...which is why, I'm sure, Tricky Nicky didn't announce these "reforms" in April or May.

[maryf]

4. K&Rnt

the hope for all workers is in France right now...

[Starry Messenger]

5. k & r

[immoderate]

7. Vive la France!

--imm

[blindpig]

8. k&r

Solidarity