Charlotte Alfred - Dramatic Photos Capture The Chaos In France As Strikes Escalate
Images of striking
workers clashing with police in northern France on Wednesday dramatically
capture how much the conflict over controversial labor reforms in the country
has escalated. French police deployed
water cannons to disperse protesters blockading a fuel depot in
Douchy-les-Mines at dawn on Wednesday, Le Huffington Post reported.
The confrontation followed similar clashes between strikers and security forces
at an oil refinery and petrol depot in southern
France a day earlier.
The protests began
earlier this month, when France’s Socialist government forced through a labor
reform bill that makes it easier for companies to hire and fire
employees and relaxes regulations protecting workers’ pay and working
hours. Opponents of the
reforms accused the government of using
anti-democratic means to push them through without a parliamentary
vote. Activists held demonstrations and one of France’s largest labor
unions, the CGT, called for nationwide strikes.The work stoppages
have hit France’s oil infrastructure particularly hard. Protests and blockades
have disrupted all eight of the country’s fuel refineries, and at least one-fifth of gas
stations around the country have totally or nearly run out of fuel.
On Wednesday, the
French government released
its strategic oil reserves for the first time in six years to help
alleviate the fuel shortages, assuring the country that these reserves
could last for more than three months. Meanwhile, unions
voted Wednesday to start
strikes at French nuclear power stations, and public transport workers have
joined the strikes, causing
travel chaos. Unions have also called for country-wide walk-outs
and protests to take place on Thursday.
French citizens
debated the strikes on social media, some using the hashtag #JeSoutiensLaGreve
(I support the strike). The French government
has refused
to accept labor groups’ demands to roll back the reforms, saying they are
necessary to reduce a troubling unemployment rate that hovers around 10
percent. Officials also say the reforms were amended based on feedback
from several unions that now back the bill. French President
Francois Hollande’s dismal
approval ratings sunk to record lowslast month.