France’s hard-line CGT union sought to choke off power and fuel supplies and hamper the public transport network on Thursday in a showdown with a government that flatly refused to withdraw a contested labour law reform.
Protesters warned the Socialist government that the European soccer tournament that opens in France on June 10 could be disrupted if it refused to back down.
As tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, workers responded to the union call by stopping work at oil refineries, nuclear power plants and the railways, as well as erecting road blocks and burning wooden pallets and tyres at key ports like Le Havre and near key distribution hubs.
Government defiantPrime Minister Manuel Valls insisted the government would not withdraw the law and would break up refinery blockades, saying there could be some tweaks to the reforms but not on any of its key planks. He was backed by the country’s other big trade union, the CFDT.
After months of rolling protests sparked by a reform that aims to make hiring and firing easier, Thursday’s stoppages and street marches were being watched closely as a test of whether the opposition is solid or at risk of fizzling out.
Police were deployed to counter risks of the fringe violence in which 350 police and several protesters have been hurt and more than 1,300 arrested at similar rallies in recent weeks.
“There is no question of changing tack, even if adjustments are always possible,” said Mr. Valls, who flatly rejected calls to scrap the part of the law that put the CGT on the warpath. That section would let companies opt out of national obligations on labour protection if they adopt deals on pay and conditions with the consent of a majority of employees. — Reuters
