(7 Sep 2000) French/Nat
More French petrol stations put up empty signs on Thursday as a French truckers' protest over the high cost of fuel spread, with farmers threatening to block the Channel Tunnel and taxi drivers disrupting Paris traffic.
French truckers have sealed off roads to nearly 100 of the country's oil refineries and fuel depots to protest soaring fuel prices and high taxes.
Other professions, including taxi drivers and farmers, have joined the expanding strike.
Dissatisfied farmers left a meeting on Thursday with Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany and said they would continue protesting.
Parisian taxi drivers executed a new "Operation Escargot": driving at snail's pace into the city from the airports to slow down traffic.
Other driving professions, such as emergency vehicles and driving instructors, joined the protest.
They were joined by their counterparts in Lyon and Marseille.
With fuel growing scarce in a growing number of French regions, some drivers crossed into neighbouring countries to fill their tanks.
Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot asked protesters to think of the potential disastrous effects on the national economy, which has rebounded in past years after a decade-long stagnation.
Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin was sharp with the truckers, saying the government would go "no further" and there would be no more negotiations.
The prime minister's tough stance came after his Green Party allies said government concessions broke promises to promote environmental policies.
The Greens say France should favour rail traffic to carry freight over the more polluting trucks.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"We the taxi drivers in Paris and France are striking because the government has introduced prohibitive fuel taxes. And we are demanding social benefits to balance out these prohibitive prices."
SUPER CAPTION: Alain Soulimant, Head of Taxi Drivers Union CSAP
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