France Stands Firm on Offer to Truckers

PARIS —  Truckers in France stepped up a blockade of the nation’s fuel depots Wednesday as the government said it would make no more concessions and demanded an end to protests that have forced some gas stations to run dry.

Prime Minister Lionel Jospin took a tough line with the truckers, saying that their strike had “inflicted a major handicap on the French economy” and that the government had reached its limit.

“The government will not go any further. There will be no more negotiations,” Jospin told reporters after meeting with Transportation Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot, who spent the preceding two nights negotiating with union leaders.

Although some trucking leaders had seemed ready earlier to accept the government’s offer, two of France’s three principal freight unions refused the offer later Wednesday.

French truckers have sealed off roads to more than 85 of the country’s oil refineries and fuel depots since Sunday to protest soaring fuel prices.

Jospin’s ultimatum to truckers came after his Greens party allies warned of a crisis within their coalition, saying his concessions to truckers broke promises to promote environmental policies. The Greens say France should favor rail traffic over the more polluting trucks to carry freight.