French police yesterday fired water cannons to disperse scores of protesters blocking a northeastern oil depot, as pumps ran dry and unions stepped up strikes in a bitter battle over labor reforms.
With one-fifth of gasoline stations in France running low, police moved in to break a blockade at the depot of Douchy-les-Mines near the Belgian border that had been in place since Thursday last week.
“They cleared out all our barricades. The depot was unblocked without confrontation,” said Willy Dans, a spokesman for the local branch of the SUD union. “The police moved in quickly. They used water cannons. We got the feeling they were tense.”
Photo: AFP
Watched by about 80 striking workers, firefighters extinguished burning tires that were blocking roads and sending thick plumes of smoke billowing into the air.
Most gasoline stations in the area were empty, forcing motorists to hop over the border to Belgium to fill up, a photographer on the ground reported.
The blockades are part of a wave of social unrest that has seen thousands take to the streets in often violent protests against labor reforms proposed by French President Francois Hollande’s deeply unpopular socialist government.
“We have to fight” against the reforms, Dans said, adding he felt the movement had popular support.
On Tuesday, top union leader Philippe Martinez vowed to continue the strikes until the labor legislation is withdrawn.
At least six out of the eight refineries in France have either stopped operating or have reduced output due to strikes and blockades, and transport is further hampered by a rolling strike on the trains, causing chaos for commuters.
The social unrest has raised concerns for the smooth running of the month-long Euro 2016 soccer championships, due to start on June 10.
“It’s beginning to get to a critical point,” said Pascal Barre, who runs a logistics firm in Poincy, east of Paris. “We filled up at the end of last week and at the beginning of this week, but our drivers need to fill up again and it’s not possible.”
“If we can’t deliver to shops and supermarkets, it’s going to put France on its knees,” he said.
However, the government has started using its strategic oil reserves to counter the union blockades of its refineries, the Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres (UFIP) said.
“Yes, a small quantity of the stock has been drawn. It was authorised by the government, only the government can authorize it,” UFIP spokeswoman Catherine Enck said.
UFIP president Francis Duseux told RMC radio that the industry had been using the strategic reserves for two days.
“Every day we use the equivalent of about one day of consumption. At worst, if the situation remains very tense, we can do this for three months,” he said.
In related news, workers at the hardline CGT union on Tuesday voted for a 24-hour strike at the Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear plant starting last night.
Workers at other nuclear plants were due to meet yesterday to decide on possible further strikes, he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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