Striking French Truckers Split Over Management Offer

Late-night talks to end France’s crippling truckers’ strike broke up early today with employers saying the negotiations were over and the unions split over accepting what the managers called their final offer.

The Union of Transport Federations, or UFT, representing 80% of all trucking employers, said it will offer its final draft deal to end the five-day strike later today.

“The negotiations are completely finished,” said UFT head Jehan de Marne. Another UFT official said the text will be presented to the unions for signature this afternoon.

The largest truckers’ union, the French Democratic Confederation of Workers, or CFDT, welcomed the employers’ draft and said it would consult its rank and file before deciding whether to sign it.

But Roger Poletti of Force Ouvriere said his union cannot accept the offer “because it does not take account [of] all of the demands the workers . . . have made.”

The nation’s 300,000 striking truckers have tied up the hub of Europe’s highway system with 150 roadblocks. They are seeking an immediate raise to the equivalent of $1,660 a month from about $1,280, and a 200-hour limit on their monthly work time.

Meanwhile, other European nations were growing impatient with France’s inability to bring an end to the strike.

Premier Lionel Jospin told Britain that Paris would do all it could to help stranded British truckers.

Joel Le Coq of the CFDT said his union might accept the latest offer even if the others did not.

The compromise proposal included a guaranteed monthly wage of $1,740 for 200 hours of work by 2000. But union leaders said not enough drivers would benefit.