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TRUCKERS' STRIKES, PROTESTS & CONVOYS, WORLDWIDE
* UK - British Truckers Protest in London on Fuel Prices
London,UK -Bloomberg, by Brian Lysaght & Camilla Hall -July 2, 2008: -- Hundreds of U.K. truckers converged on London demanding lower diesel fuel prices in a demonstration that tied up traffic in the city center... Trucks from across the country gathered on the eastbound lanes of the A40 Westway...
Four hundred trucks joined the protest, which ended at 4 p.m. local time, the Road Haulage Association said... The rising price of crude oil has spurred protests across Europe. Oil touched a record of $143.67 a barrel on June 30 and has doubled in the last year. British truckers want a cut of 25 pence in the tax on diesel, arguing it would allow them to compete with continental European companies, which pay less tax... Fuel prices in Britain are among the highest in Europe. A liter of diesel costs about 1.30 pounds (U$S 2.60) in London -- equivalent to $9.85 a U.S. gallon. More than half of the price reflects taxes, with 39 percent levied in fuel duty and 17.5 percent charged as value-added tax... Chancellor Alistair Darling deferred a planned increase in fuel duty in April and is considering doing so again in October, the Treasury said in an e-mailed statement... The RHA has urged the government to freeze fuel duty as prices rise and to scrap plans for an increase in the levy... (Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News -1: A truck carrying a protest banner drives in front on the Houses of Parliament during the fuel demonstrations,in London, on July 2, 2008 / 2: Truck drivers wait by their vehicles on the A40 Westway at the start of the fuel protest in London, on July 2, 2008)* India - Truck operators launch indefinite strike; fuel supply on
New Delhi,India -PTI/Press Trust of India -July 2, 2008: -- Truckers today stopped ferrying goods, barring fuel and other essential commodities, as part a nationwide strike to protest the levy of toll tax and high duty on diesel among other issues... Talks to end the strike, which began early today, collapsed after Highways and Road Transport Minister T R Baalu said it was not possible to roll back a hike in toll tax... "We will continue with the indefinite strike," All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) President Charan Singh Lohara told reporters after the meeting with the minister... Baalu, however, said that his ministry has talked to the Petroleum Ministry on the truckers' demand for levying fixed duty on per litre of diesel instead of the prevailing ad-valorem duty and that a clarification was expected soon... Separately, the Finance Ministry said it was open to offering concessions on service tax, another issue on which the strike action was called by transporters...
* USA - Drivers’ Strike Stalls New York City Construction
New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by STEVEN GREENHOUSE -July 2, 2008: -- Most of New York City’s largest construction projects ground to a halt or near-halt on Tuesday because of an unanticipated strike by more than 400 cement-truck drivers... The concrete companies hit by the strike predicted that the walkout would last at least through Monday and perhaps considerably longer, putting thousands of construction workers temporarily out of work... Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman for the striking union, Local 282 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said the main issues were wages and working conditions. She said the union expected the strike to last only a few days, adding, “The posture is positive; it’s not angry”... (Photo by Rob Bennett/The New York Times - At the Jenna Concrete Corporation in the Bronx, cement trucks sat idle on Tuesday)* New Zealand - Truckies plan protest over road user charges
Trucking companies, furious at surprise new road user charges introduced by the Government this week, plan a nation-wide protest designed to disrupt commuters heading to work on Friday
New Zealand -Stuff.co.nz -2 July 2008: -- ... Truck drivers will bring their vehicles into city centres throughout the country between 7.30am and 9am on Friday in what trucking representatives say is the first national protest taken by the industry... Transport Minister Annette King announced the increase in road user charges (RUC) on Monday, and they came into effect yesterday... Diesel vehicles and all other vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes are affected... Road Transport Forum chief executive officer Tony Friedlander said the organisation's members were outraged... Further protest action could be taken, he said... For a larger vehicles, such as a three tonne SUV, it will cost an extra $49.20 per 10,000km... A typical five tonne truck will pay an additional $53.80 per 10,000km, while a 23 tonne four-axle truck can expect to pay an additional $198... (Photo by Lionel Cironneau/AP: French truck drivers at Nice, southern France, Monday, June 30, 2008, as they protest against rising fuel costs. France takes over the presidency of the 27-nation European Union on Tuesday as the EU facing slowing growth, rising inflation and soaring fuel prices)* France - Truckers protest high fuel prices
Paris,France -AP -July 1, 2008: -- Truck drivers protesting soaring fuel prices have slowed highway traffic outside Paris and other French cities... Labor union officials say 40 protests nationwide are designed to win reductions in gasoline taxes and other government measures to offset rising world fuel prices... France's traffic information center says truckers who were driving at a snail's pace brought highway traffic to a near-standstill on highways around the French capital... Protesters also blockaded highways in the southeastern Rhone-Alpes region and in other parts of eastern France... The protests Monday were a continuation of weeks of protests over high fuel prices... (Photo by Lionel Cironneau/AP - French truck drivers demonstrate close to the airport of Nice, southern France, Monday, June 30, 2008, as they protest against rising fuel costs. France takes over the presidency of the 27-nation European Union on Tuesday as the EU facing slowing growth, rising inflation and soaring fuel prices) * Australia - Petrol protest causes F3 chaos
Sydney,Australia -The Sydney Morning Herald, by Josephine Tovey & Arjun Ramachandran -July 1, 2008: -- Traffic delays on the F3 are easing as a protest involving a convoy of hundreds of trucks begins to disperse in Wahroonga... Motorists travelling from the Central Coast experienced significant delays and heavy traffic this morning after hundreds of truck drivers protesting against rising petrol costs took over two lanes of the freeway between the Caltex service station at Warnervale and Wahroonga... About 100 trucks were originally involved in the go-slow on the F3 freeway this morning, as they drove towards Sydney at speeds of between 60kmh and 80kmh, but up to 300 more joined in, according to a spokesman from the Transport Workers Union (TWU). The protest was about soaring fuel prices, the TWU said... "Drivers are currently having to absorb the spikes in fuel prices," NSW TWU secretary Tony Sheldon said... (Photo by Lisa Wiltse - Go slow ... a convoy of trucks held up traffic this morning)Labels: truckers' protest worldwide
posted by Unknown @ 7:06 PM
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