Spanish truckers strike over fuel

Spanish truckers strike over fuel

Impact of action affecting other industries. Supplies of many goods disrupted throughout country.

DANIEL WOOLLS Associated Press Writer

MADRID, Spain — Truckers angry over soaring fuel prices blocked highways across Spain on Tuesday, disrupting supplies of food, gasoline, auto parts and other goods.

Truck drivers block the border in Spain with France on Tuesday. Trucks moving at a snail’s pace clogged highways leading to and from major Spanish cities on Tuesday, the second day of a nationwide strike over rising fuel costs.

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The strike, which began Monday, is the most serious labor unrest facing Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero since he came to power in March 2004. It threatens further damage to an economy that is already slowing down due to a collapse in Spain’s once-booming construction sector.

Three auto plants — one each from Nissan, Mercedes Benz and SEAT — said they were suspending operations for lack of spare parts. And some gasoline stations in Madrid and the northeastern Catalonia region already have run out of fuel.

Vendors warned of shortages of fruit, vegetables and meat this week at Madrid’s sprawling wholesale market, Mercamadrid, if the strike continues.

Mercamadrid took in 10 truckloads of fish Tuesday — compared with 90 on a normal day, said Manuel Pablos, president of an association of fish merchants. Fishermen also have been on strike since May 30 to protest rising fuel costs.

The combination of the two strikes “is making these days very grim,” he said.

Truckers say their diesel costs have risen 36 percent in one year.

Those on strike mainly are self-employed truckers who make up a minority of the industry. They are demanding minimum, guaranteed haulage rates to offset rising fuel prices and enable them to compete with large trucking companies. They also complain that while fishermen benefit from heavily discounted diesel fuel, truckers have no such generous perk.

“Why not us? What do we run on, water?” asked trucker Antonio Campoy as he stood beside a long line of trucks parked on a major highway leading into Madrid.

Campoy said with fuel prices so high and so many other costs to cover, it is virtually impossible for independent truckers to make a profit.

“Every wheel on this truck costs at least euro400 ($630), and it has 18 of them,” Campoy told AP Television News. “All we are asking for is a little consideration.”