The CGT called for an unlimited strike of drivers of hazardous materials (fuel, gas, chemicals …) from Friday. According to the union, a majority of drivers are on strike this Friday in Ile-de-France. If this strike, triggered full weekend of Ascension continues, it could lead to supply problems but the UFIP (French Union of Petroleum Industries) is “reassuring”.
Why are the drivers on strike?
The CGT called for unrestricted movement from Friday to improve the working conditions of the profession. The CGT demands better taken into account in the collective agreement for road transport, “specificities” specific to hazardous materials. Among its claims: a daily maximum working time of 10 hours, a specific half-year medical monitoring, a minimum hourly rate of 14 euros per hour and a thirteenth month. A driver “carrying 38,000 liters of fuel and 24 tons of acid is paid 9.73 euros per hour”, when he must “be specific certificate holder obtained after exams” to be renewed “every 5 years “, recently recalled the CGT in a leaflet.
What about the mobilization?
A majority of drivers of hazardous materials (fuel, gas, chemicals …) were on strike on Friday in Ile-de-France and several depots in the West, according to the CGT. In Ile-de-France, mobilizing employees do accompanied by no blocking or dam in the early morning, according to the CGT. At the port of Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine), twenty CGT activists tried to block from 5.30am access, but were repelled by security forces, police said. The federation CGT Transport reported an average of “70% of strikers in the Paris region” with strikers at fuel depots in eight out of nine.
By province, the site of Lorient (Morbihan), blocked by the CGT in the early morning, it was over by mid-day. The filing of Donges (Loire-Atlantique) on the other hand remained for truck hazardous materials. Other vehicles (buses, coaches …) can supply them, said the CGT. In La Rochelle, the CGT strikers and activists “filter” to access the repository but it is no longer blocked, according to two sources CGT. At Gennevilliers the largest depot of Ile-de-France, the union says that transport companies “have been using interim and give a bonus of 100 euros to those who work” .
Should we fear a shortage?
If this strike, triggered full weekend of Ascension continues, it could lead to supply problems because gas stations have a range of three days, said the CGT. “Tomorrow it is back” , has already warned the spokesman of the CGT federation. But the UFIP (French Union of Petroleum Industries) shows “reassuring” . “The Ufip member operators have anticipated this movement” , said the spokesperson of Catherine Enck Ufip.
“We took provisions for (…) that stocks are at the highest weekend everywhere in France”, said CEO of Total, Patrick Pouyanné the sidelines of the General Meeting of Shareholders group and “in conjunction with the authorities, we ensure that the main deposits can be used” .
