Fuels: return to calm after the intervention of the police at the Donges depot

Nearly 200 gendarmes intervened around 2 a.m. on Tuesday March 21, to allow the unloading of a boat that had come to supply the fuel depot in Donges, in Loire-Atlantique, reports France Bleu Loire Ocean. The SFDM depot and the Donges refinery have been blocked by strikers for several weeks to protest against the pension reform.

According to the FO union, “the dockers and the police clashed”. These “clashes” lasted more than two hours. The strikers mobilized when they learned that a boat, an oil terminal filled with diesel, was coming to dock at the SFDM depot. Testimonies from trade unionists mention the use of tear gas, disencirclement grenades and LBD fire.

Unloading completed

At 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning, calm had returned to the Donges site. There was no one left in front of the depot, notes a journalist from France Bleu Loire Océan on the spot. According to Marin Guillotin, Force Ouvrière representative of the Donges refinery, “the repository will not be operational in the next few hours, maybe even in the next few days”.

The ship was able to cast off and the fuel entered the depot. FO ensures that the strikers will continue to “to defend oneself”. “The fight is not over. We remain determined. This is not what will make us give up, quite the contrary”concludes Marin Guillotin, while the strike was renewed at more than 90%.