- Filter dams -

Two filtering dams were set up Monday morning at the entrance to the Golfech nuclear power plant (Tarn-et-Garonne), whose second reactor was shut down overnight, a union source said.

"The objective is to influence EDF's economy (...) by slowing down the start of the tranche stoppage" to "put pressure on the government" on the issue of pensions, explained to AFP Olivier Berty, CGT delegate of the site. Because of the maintenance work that was to begin on Monday, such an action has a significant cost for the company, he said: "we are on about a million euros of losses per day".

In the Aude, early in the morning, about 80 people also led a filtering barrier at the entrance to the Port-la-Nouvelle oil depot, previously blocked from March 16 to 24. The blockade was lifted at 11:30 am by the police.

Another filtering barrier was installed Monday morning in the Ardennes by a few dozen people at the call of the interunion, on an access road serving both the Stellantis site of Ayvelles, near Charleville-Mézières, and a Cora supermarket.

The roadblock let employees pass but blocked truck exits from both sites since 06:45 a.m., said a spokesman for Stellantis management.

The situation was "unblocked" by late morning, Stellantis said.

Fuel shortage

More than 15% of France gas stations ran out of petrol or diesel on Monday, the shortage being more pronounced in the west of the country, following mobilizations in refineries to protest against the pension reform.

More than 15% of France service stations ran out of petrol or diesel on Monday, the shortage being even more pronounced in the west of the country and in particular in Loire-Atlantique, following mobilizations in refineries to protest against the pension reform. © GUILLAUME SOUVANT / AFP/Archives

The most affected department remains Loire-Atlantique (55.06% of stations in shortage of at least one fuel), according to data from the government fuel price website, analyzed by AFP.

Other departments in the west are also very affected (Mayenne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Maine-et-Loire, all above 40% of stations in shortage), and the south also remains strongly affected (Bouches-du-Rhône above 40%, several other departments at more than 30%).

During the weekend, the Port-Jérôme-Gravenchon refinery - whose shipments are still blocked - was shut down, Eric Sellini, a national elected official of the CGT Chemistry, told AFP. Fuel shipments from other sites are also still blocked.

The Louvre blocked

The world's busiest museum did not open Monday morning, blocked by workers opposed to pension reform.

The Louvres Museum in Paris, August 17, 2022. © Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP/Archives

"Due to an interprofessional social movement, the #Louvre Museum is not able to be open in the early morning," the museum tweeted, which also announced it on its website.

A spokeswoman for the Paris museum told AFP that the blockade of entries was carried out "by employees of the Louvre Museum and other cultural sites".

A statement from the CGT-Culture and Sud indicates that the Louvre has been closed since 9:00 am as part of the mobilization against the pension reform.

On Thursday, the opening of the museum had already been delayed by an hour by strikers.

-Logistics depot blocked -

In the suburbs of Nice, the logistics depot of Saint-Isidore, is blocked since 05:00 Monday morning, by a hundred demonstrators CGT and Sud-Rail, according to the CGT.

This logistics center houses the depots of more than 40 transport, materials and household appliance companies, including Darty. This blockage was confirmed to AFP by the Prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes.

© 2023 AFP