The French love a strike and a demonstration. Last year dairy farmers caused chaos as they demonstrated over falling milk prices. They refused to supply cheese factories and took to tipping trailer loads of manure in supermarket car parks.
Now, it is the oil refinery workers. They are not at all happy about the government’s plans to raise the age of retirement. 80% of all Total’s workers are now on strike. Eight of Frances’s twelve refineries have closed down, which is causing supply problems. The oil refineries have reported that there are only 10 days worth of fuel left. The government is desperate to prevent panic buying and has said there is enough fuel for a month.
We are already seeing the effects of this strike. Petrol stations in Carentoir and Malansac remain closed as they have run out of fuel and I queued for 40 minutes yesterday for diesel.
We can only sit back and watch the battle of wills between the unions and Sarkozy.
What’s your view of the French strikes? Is it affecting you directly? Are you concerned about possible future developments? Give us your view by commenting below…
I have been more alarmed about these recent developments than any others in recent times, and we’re seriously considering cancelling our planned trip to France in November if the fuel situation cannot be resolved.
Time for a little controversy….
I have little sympathy for strikers in general and certainly not when they are striking against the government plans to increase retirement age. Sure, it’s unpalatable to think that we might need to work longer than we thought, but it is something that needs to happen – there is not enough money in the pot to pay for the retirement pensions of people whose life expectancy is much higher than it was just a few years ago. Striking will just bring suffering to the ordinary working people of France and will probably not end up changing the necessary course of events.
The arrival of the student demonstrations, of course, always evoques memories of May ’68, but I think that they too are wrong this time around. Listening to a couple of student demonstrators on the news yesterday talking about their fear that an increase in retirement age would put their prospects of employment in danger, I thought that this was the wrong way to look at things. Keeping older people in work surely gives them more money to spend in the economy, which should help safeguard the jobs of the young. In addition, the tax burden on young people will need to rise in order to continue paying pensions to people if the retirement age stays as it is now? Have they thought of that?
Even if, at the extreme, this industrial action brings down the French government, the power would be placed back in the hands of the same people who were governing previously, and who could have nipped this problem in the bud when it might have been cheaper and less painful to do so. Where is the sense in that? At least Sarkozy (love him or hate him) is trying to do what needs to be done.
Anyway – back to my trip (or not) to France in November…
Whether I travel to France or not next month is hardly likely to affect the French economy, but we will not be the only ones considering this decision. People in the UK will soon be starting to plan their Summer holidays for 2011. With the economic crisis already shrinking wallets over here, and the value of the pound against the Euro conspiring against France and other European destinations, surely the threat of strikes and further upheaval will be another blow dealt? As one of the top tourist destinations in the World France has further to fall than most.