French strikes ‘threaten recovery’

Strikers reimposed a blockade of a fuel depot on Monday as the authorities tried to restore supplies

Strikes against pension reforms are costing France between 200m and 400m euros (£350m, $561m) per day, says Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.

She told French radio that the disruption threatened the country’s fragile economy recovery.

Parliament is expected to bring into law on Wednesday an increase in the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.

But fuel shortages are continuing and the unions have called another day of national strikes on Thursday.

Authorities struggling

France’s 12 oil terminals are still out of action, although workers at two of them are expected to call an end to their fortnight-long strike on Monday.

The union of independent petrol importers said that one in three petrol stations was in difficulty.

The authorities are struggling to reopen fuel depots. On Monday, port workers and dockers regained control of the biggest oil depot in the south of France, at Fos-sur-Mer.

Reports said riot police looked on as around 200 demonstrators prevented petrol tankers from entering the facility.

Elsewhere, a week-long blockade was said to have been lifted at a depot near Tours in central France.

The French finance minister said the shortage of fuel and the widespread protests were clearly taking their toll.

“Today, we shouldn’t be weighing down this recovery with campaigns that are painful for the French economy and very painful for a certain number of small and medium-sized businesses,” Ms Lagarde said.

A strike at the port of Marseille has entered its 30th day and around 70 ships lie moored off the coast.

A protest by refuse collectors in Marseille, which has left thousands of tonnes of rubbish abandoned in the streets, is said to have spread to other cities.

Reports say the biggest rubbish treatment centre in France, at Ivry-sur-Seine, has been blockaded for the past three days.

Students are due to stage further protests on Tuesday and the unions say there will be further national strike days on 28 October of strikes on 6 November if President Nicolas Sarkozy does not withdraw the pension law or open negotiations.

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