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Strike by French truckers may be averted
Tentative pact reached; unions vote Sunday
November 1, 1997
Web posted at: 9:50 p.m. EST (0250 GMT)PARIS (CNN) -- A strike by truckers that threatened to paralyze traffic in France may have been averted after some truckers' unions reached a tentative agreement with an employers' group. The last-minute negotiations had stretched into early Sunday morning.
Michel Caillaud of the National Truck Drivers' Federation (FNCR) said the unions would put the deal to their members and announce a decision by midday Sunday on whether to go ahead with the strike, which was scheduled to begin Sunday night.
Caillaud said the agreement, with a trucking company consortium called UNOSTRA, was not entirely satisfactory. But he said that he was prepared to put it to a vote of union members.
He stressed that the final decision on whether to accept the deal and call of the strike was up to the members. Negotiations on the details of the according were still continuing.
But casting doubt on whether the accord would stop the strike was the fact that the main employers' group, the Union of Transport Federations (UFT), and the large CGT trade union were not part of the last-ditch talks that produced the tentative accord.
The UFT, which represents about 80 percent of all trucking companies in France, walked out of the talks after presenting what they called their last and best offer.
Truckers have said they would start blockading roads across France by 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) Sunday. They already staged scattered blockades on Saturday.
"We are determined, and for the long run, because I don't think the negotiations will solve anything," a local trucker union spokesman said in the northern city of Rouen, where drivers had blockaded three major gas depots.
The truckers are demanding an immediate 5-7 percent pay raise and want a guaranteed salary of 10,000 francs ($1,600) for 200 hours of work per month. The drivers also have been haggling over the number of hours worked.
Owner representatives say they already have fulfilled their commitments under an according reached last year, including lowering truckers' retirement age to 55, reducing their work hours and raising their pay.
But unions say individual trucking companies have been slow to implement the changes and have reneged on pay raise agreements.
Background: A 12-day truck strike last November brought France to a standstill, blocked tens of thousands of international truck drivers, and caused severe tension with European Union member states, who lost millions of dollars in perished goods. Last year, a 12-day strike trapped thousands of international trucks, causing millions of dollars worth of losses to hauling firms, farmers, gas stations and car industries.
A spokesman for UNOSTRA, a group of medium and smaller trucking firms, said it continued talks despite the UFT's walkout because "neither our companies nor the country's economy, which seems to be recovering, would bear another eight- or 10-day strike."
Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot on Friday called on both sides to compromise to avoid hurting the economy. About 80 percent of goods in France are transported on roads.
In an apparent attempt to help avert that strike, the government announced Saturday it was cutting a tax on trucks in order to make it easier for employers to reach a wage accord with truckers.
A statement from Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said the tax paid by employers was being cut by 800 francs ($130) for each truck.
The government officially warned the 15-nation European Union of "the possibility of a strike" and said Paris would not provide guarantees of open roads.
The German Federation of Goods Transporters and Logistics warned members to pull their trucks out of France by Sunday. Britain's Road Haulage Association warned drivers to cancel plans to travel to France, saying fresh vegetables, cheese, wine and meat could run short in Britain if the blockade lasted more than a few days.
Belgian and Portuguese authorities also urged their truck drivers to make their way home ahead of the possible strike.
Meanwhile French supermarkets have been ordering extra deliveries, car drivers already drained some gas stations dry in their haste to fill up ahead of the expected blockade, and Beaujolais wine producers were getting anxious about how this year's vintage would reach cafes in time for late November's Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations.
Paris Bureau Chief Peter Humi and Reuters contributed to this report.
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