I drove from Bern to Paris last Friday and escaped the mess in France by a week. I am sure glad to be back in the US and within walking distance of my work.
Best, Seppo
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PARIS (AP) -- A truckers' union called on its members Friday to lift blockades that have strangled the flow of gasoline in France, causing havoc for motorists.
However, another union seeking a decrease in the stiff gasoline tax applied in France continued to hold out.
The National Federation of Road Transport called for barricades put in place around fuel depots and refineries to be removed. The move came after a meeting with Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot that lasted until 3 a.m.
``We feel that we can ask for the blockades to be lifted,'' following explanations provided in the session, said Rene Petit, president of the union.
Petit said earlier that ``truly important advances that correspond to our demands'' were made in the meeting and he would consult with union representatives and rank-and-file members.
One other truckers union accepted government proposals earlier in the week.
But Daniel Chevallier, head of the UNOSTRA union, said ``right now it isn't possible to call for blockades to be lifted.''
Meanwhile, taxi drivers -- who joined the protest along with farmers and ambulance drivers -- were given the go-ahead to raise their fares by 4.5 percent to cover the rising cost of fuel, France-Info radio reported Friday. That followed 10 hours of talks at the Interior Ministry, the radio said.
Senior government ministers, hoping to keep the movement from snowballing, had warned protesters to end their blockades before they hurt France's newly healthy economy.
``If we let things go on, that could break the process of growth and development that's going on in our country,'' Gayssot told RTL radio.
The protest was being felt all over France, with some airports, lacking fuel, canceling flights. Nice Airport said no more fuel was being distributed as of noon Friday. Truckers were blocking Nantes-Atlantique airport in western France.
Desperate drivers were resorting to a variety of measures to get gas. Those near France's borders were crossing into Italy, Spain and Geneva, Switzerland, to fill up. Long lines were reported at some Geneva gas stations.
The government had offered to give truckers a 5-cent reimbursement per liter of fuel this year, and a 3.5-cent refund per liter on gasoline taxes next year, but only one union agreed to those terms.
In northern France on Thursday, farmers in more than 50 tractors blocked all freight access to the Channel Tunnel, preventing trucks from boarding trains to Britain, said Vincent Fournier, an activist with the FNSEA union.
The demonstrations began quietly in August, with fishermen blocking a few ports to protest rising fuel costs. After the government offered them financial help, truckers began seeking attention, and farmers and taxi drivers added their voices to the protests.
President Jacques Chirac, in New York at the U.N. Millennium Summit, called Thursday for a rapid end to the protests and said oil-producing nations should be aware of the harm that high prices can cause.
``They are aware there's a problem,'' he said. ``It's world growth that is at stake.''
World oil prices have more than tripled since hitting a 12-year low of less than $11 a barrel in December 1998, before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries slashed production to force prices higher.
Truckers say the cost of diesel fuel has risen 40 percent in the past year. Diesel fuel in France costs $2.84 per gallon, compared to a current average of $1.58 per gallon in the United States.
The truckers say the problem is compounded by gasoline taxes, the second highest in the 15-nation European Union. |
