Last French strikers return to work at oil refineries

[News_Editor]

Last French strikers return to work at oil refineries

2010-10-29 23:46:11 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- The last French strikers on Friday returned to work at the 12 oil refineries throughout France after voting to end the strike against the pension reform that was passed this week.

The two-week strike caused severe fuel shortages across the country as whole 12 oil refineries were closed. On Thursday, union leaders called for the ninth one-day massive protest but only half of the previous demonstrators participated.

After that, unions voted to end the strike and to resume work at the facilities nationwide. Unions considered that the protests lost momentum but left French citizens with a deep social discomfort.

"For us, the unions, we didn't win, but we didn't lose anything either, we were able to mobilize the troops and public opinion against a reform that we still feel is unfair," said the CFDT union's Mohamed Touis.

The blockades imposed by the French strikers protesting against the recently-passed pension reform bill caused that up to a quarter of French stations ran out of fuel while the rest suffered from severe shortages costing the industry hundreds of millions of euros.

Last week, President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered riot police forces to remove strikers from the entrances to the depots to allow trucks through. The protesters had been blocking the entrance to everyone who wanted to enter the facilities.

The French government announced that the 15-day fuel shortage cost the country up to three billion euros ($4.2 billion) and threatened France's economic recovery.

Meanwhile, fuel deposits are returning to normal and the government informed that around 85 percent of the filling stations were supplied. Around 300 people refused to end the strike and blocked two logistics centers for several hours around Aix-en-Provence, southern France.

"This reform, imposed using forceps against the will of most French, was supposed to show a brave president (but) it rather shows a deaf and unpopular president. This surprising movement has also shown the exceptional mobilization of a France that is prey to a hidden unhappiness and profound disenchantment," left-leaning columnist Francois Sergent said.

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