Hauliers plan fuel blockades in labour law protest

Haulage drivers are joining the protests about the planned changes to the Code de Travail with a rolling strike 'with serious consequences for the economy' from September 25.

CGT-Transports and FO-Transports unions have called strike saying the changes to employment law will have a direct impact on drivers’ work and payslip as they are mostly employed by small businesses and fear the loss of service-related pay and bonuses.

Oil refineries and fuel depots are obvious targets for blockades and the unions have promised “strong and powerful action” to stop the changes.

Jérôme Vérité of CGT-Transports told journalists that the dialogue with the government over the Code de Travail had been dominated by employers and the results would a “social catastrophe” and that the strike would have “very concrete consequences on the French economy”.

Coming after Sunday’s country-wide union demonstrations that saw 200,000 on the streets, the calendar of disputes is already heavy with a transport strike by other unions on September 18, new protests by the CGT on September 21, former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s planned demonstration by La France Insoumise on September 23 and a pensioners’ protest on September 28 against the rise in CSG social charges.newsletter