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The police
operation to free up a fuel depot near the Donges oil refinery
in western France followed similar swoops at other depots this
week to ease petrol shortages caused by picketers fighting
planned labor law reforms.
Speaking in Japan after a summit with other world leaders,
Hollande said France's economy was starting to pick up and
should not be derailed by opponents of a reform designed to make
hiring and firing easier.
"I will stay the course because this is a good reform and we
must go all the way to adoption," the Socialist leader said.
"This is not the time to put the French economy in difficulty."
Hollande's appeal was directed above all at the hardline CGT
labor union, which is leading street protests, public transport
strikes and fuel supply pickets that also risk disrupting the
France-hosted European soccer tournament next month.
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets over
the past three months for protests marred by violence on the
fringes in which hundreds of police have been hurt and more than
1,300 people arrested.
Hollande, who faces an election a year from now plagued by
dismal popularity ratings and high unemployment, says things are
starting to get better but that the labor reform is vital to
tackle joblessness, which has dipped for two months in a row but
remains close to a rate of 10 percent.
The reform, which the CGT wants withdrawn, would make it easier
for companies to lay off staff in difficult economic times. It
would also allow firms to opt out of national labor protection
rules if they strike in-house deals on pay and conditions with
the consent of a majority of their staff.
French protesters attacked a police station and smashed bank
windows on Thursday at rallies against the reform, while the CGT
members sought to choke off fuel supplies.
Seventy-seven people were arrested during nationwide street
demonstrations on Thursday in which more than 150,000 marched,
according to the Interior Ministry.
(Reporting by Brian Love and Simon Carraud in Paris and Thomas
Wilson in Japan; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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