France Braces for Major Disruptions on Day of Countrywide Transport Strike

By Staff, Agencies

France was preparing for a day of major disruptions on Tuesday after unions called a nationwide transport strike as they remain in deadlock with the government over walkouts at oil depots that have sparked fuel shortages.

The move comes after workers at several refineries and depots operated by energy giant TotalEnergies voted to extend their strike action.

Their industrial action has seriously disrupted fuel distribution across the country but particularly in northern and central France and the Paris region.

Motorists have scrambled to fill tanks as the fuel strike, which has lasted for nearly three weeks, cripples supplies at just over 30 percent of France's service stations and has had a knock-on effect across all sectors of the economy.

President Emmanuel Macron's government used requisitioning powers to force some strikers back to open fuel depots, a move that infuriated unions but has so far been upheld in the courts.

"We will continue to do the utmost," Macron said after a meeting Monday with ministers, adding he wanted the crisis "to be resolved as quickly as possible".

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire earlier said it was necessary to use requisitioning powers to reopen the refineries and depots.

"The time for negotiation is over," Le Maire told the BFMTV broadcaster.

"There was a negotiation, there was an agreement," he added, referring to the agreement concluded last week between TotalEnergies and two majority unions, but which the hard-left CGT union rejects.

The latest strike call comes after tens of thousands of protesters marched in Paris on Sunday to express their frustration at the rising cost of living.

The demonstration was called by the left-wing political opposition and led by the head of the France Unbowed [LFI] party, Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Some protesters wore yellow fluorescent vests, the symbol of the often violent anti-government protests in 2018 that shook the pro-business government of Macron.

Organizers claimed 140,000 people attended Sunday's march, but police said there were 30,000.