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Thousands march in France against gas privatisation
REUTERS/Mal Langsdon
Workers of France's nationalised electricity and gas companies EDF (Electricite de France) and GDF (Gaz de France) demonstrate against privatisation plans in Paris September 12, 2006.AFP
PARIS
Petroleumworld.com 09 13 06
Thousands of gas and electricity workers took part in demonstrations across France Tuesday against a government bill currently being debated in parliament to privatise the state-owned Gaz de France (GDF).
Around 24 percent of workers at GDF stopped work for the day, alongside 18 percent of workers for the electricity provider EDF, management said.
Garbed in GDF's blue uniform and doffed with a hard hat, utility workers turned out for protests in several cities around the country, including Paris, Toulouse and Nantes, shouting anti-privatisations slogans.
Seven thousand protesters marched through the capital, according to union estimates, while police put the number at 2,300.
Electricity and gas supplies to the home of government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope were cut off as part of the protest, unions said, adding that the protests would continue, maybe even for several months.
Several town mayors married gas and electricity workers together in a symbolic gesture to protest against the government's plan to merge GDF with French energy group Suez, which faced a takeover threat from Italy's Enel.
The government is proposing to reduce the state holding in GDF to 34 percent to facilitate the planned merger but the measure is opposed by the left-wing opposition, which has tabled a record 137,000 amendments in a bid to stall the bill's passage through parliament.
According to an opinion poll for Les Echos newspaper Tuesday, only 12 percent of the public support GDF's privatisation. Some 38 percent are totally opposed and 43 percent would be in favour if the state remained a majority share-holder.
The ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) has itself been divided over the proposed sell-off, and among the demonstrators in Paris Tuesday was UMP deputy Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.
Gas and electricity workers were also angered by UMP proposals published in a newspaper Tuesday to reform the pension system by ending the early retirement provisions available for EDF and GDF staff as well as some other state employees.
The proposals were set out by former minister Francois Fillon, an adviser to UMP presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy.
AFP 12 1818 GMT 09 06
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