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French truckers set up dozens of road blocks

PARIS: Truckers protesting against changes to work hours set up dozens of blockades across the country on Monday including at border points with Germany and Belgium, authorities said.

The National Traffic Information Centre (CNIR) listed 58 road blockades at 9:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) but most were "filtering blockades" where traffic was slowed rather than stopped.

Only nine blockades halted traffic entirely, a CNIR statement said.

Two blockades were on the Franco-German border, including one at the Europe Bridge spanning the Rhine between Strasbourg and Kehl, and another was on the Franco-Belgian border near Tourcoing, CNIR said.

Truckers' unions said the action was to mark their opposition to the way a new law cutting the working week to 35 from 39 hours was set to be implemented in their sector.

The French truckers oppose a newly agreed 35-hour accord due to come into effect during 2000 for haulage firms with more than 20 employees and are demanding a real cut in hours without a loss in wages and guarantees of job creation.

Road blocks were likely to remain at least into Tuesday, when the 35-hour week becomes law, union officials said.

Tuesday will see Paris public transport disrupted by strikes by Metro, suburban train and bus drivers over how the 35-hour week will affect them.

The blockades, already condemned by Dutch exporters, will coincide with a national "go-slow" in Germany as trucking firms there protest against a new tax which has hiked diesel prices.

Crippling blockades were set up earlier in January by haulage bosses worried that putting drivers on a 35-hour week would leave them at a serious disadvantage to unrestricted foreign rivals.

A government deal to pacify haulage bosses, letting them fix monthly rather than weekly limits on hours, was rejected by truck drivers who fear they will end up working long hours in busy weeks for no extra pay.

Transport unions are also calling for members such as ambulance drivers to strike on Monday. Ground staff at Air France plan action on Tuesday over the 35-hour week.

The action is the latest in a succession of strikes in recent months linked to the 35-hour week. Thousands of doctors and nurses took to the streets on Friday threatening to block the reform unless the government ploughed more money into the health system. Hospital unions plan more action on Wednesday.

The disputes are casting a shadow over the showcase labour reform, a secondary aim of which was to seal better accords with unions in a bid to reduce industrial disputes.

Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin made the 35-hour week a priority after taking power in mid-1997 as a tool against the country's persistent unemployment, currently at 10.6 percent.-Reuters