9:30 p.m. From the Blitzkrieg to the Fake War
A look back at this third day of blockage of the oil depot in Lorient. Friday could be decisive as state services do not want the blockades to continue. [Lire notre synthèse]
8 p.m. The silence before dark
After the exciting delivery of the crane truck, calm returned. The protesters gather in front of cafe Chez Finette. The CRS are still around.
19:20 New mood of the fishermen this Friday morning
After unanimously voting the end of the movement on Wednesday evening, Lorient’s fishermen retreated in Guilvinec this Thursday morning. Out of solidarity. A decision that, in Keroman, does not satisfy all professions. At around 10am on Friday morning, there is another vote to establish a common position on whether or not to maintain the strike movement. [Lire l’article de Stéphane Guihéneuf]
19:05 The Balancing Excavator Tactic
To delay the removal of their construction equipment, the protesters used a clever ruse. At each end of rue de Seignelay is a tank carrier with a backhoe. Before removing the keys, the excavator operator made sure to extend his arm and place it firmly on the ground. “If they move the dump truck, the excavator will inevitably tip over and fall. And they can’t get out of the inn there’, a man in the company laughs. [Lire l’article de Yann Le Scornet et Dominique Morvan]
6.49 pm The crane left the avenue de la Perrière
The crane left the avenue de la Perrière. It was installed on the other side of the neighborhood to access blocking devices from another street.
18:20 Employees of the claimed company shouted down
The workers working to remove the construction equipment are booed by the protesters and treated as “collaborators”. The situation has become tense. The intervention of the CRS was necessary to allow the crane to maneuver and turn around. The protesters are angry with the claimed employees.
18:15 A crane truck has just arrived on site
To remove construction equipment, a crane from Meslé Levage, was advanced. She just got there.
6:00 pm The Pigeon Company demands to remove the equipment
The Pigeon Company was requisitioned to attempt to remove the equipment from the harbor. It has mobilized a single bulldozer so far. Not really enough to convince the protesters. “They send a worn-out bull without chains. What are they going to do with it? Nothing. It’s just provocation. All year round we have the pressure to run our businesses, so that doesn’t impress us. We have nothing left to lose,” said Bruno Le Gallo, CEO of the company BLGT.
5.30 p.m. “They will never be able to move the slightest machine! †
It is determined which public works professionals are present on site. “We were told about a 40 tonne crane coming to get our attachments. It makes me laugh, says Eric, one of the protesters. They will never be able to move the slightest gear. What happened Wednesday evening (Editor’s note: the intervention of the mobile gendarmes), it is just a big publicity stunt to say that the State is acting. See the result: not a single tractor moved. No truck can enter or leave the depot.” [L’article complet de Yann Le Scornet]
16:55 Confused situation on the part of the fishermen
In the fishing port, the situation is a bit confused. Lorient’s fishermen should meet next Friday around 10am to adopt a common position through a vote on whether or not to maintain the strike movement. While the decision had been unanimously taken on Wednesday evening to return to sea, the Lorient fishermen who attended the meeting organized this Thursday morning in Guilvinec played the solidarity card by resuming the movement. A decision that, according to our information, is not unanimous in the ranks. In addition, several boats, including trawlers, had been back at sea since this Thursday morning.
4.45 pm How to evacuate the devices blocking the oil depot?
For the police, one of the problems is the evacuation of construction equipment, backhoe loaders and other bulldozers – around 60 – that are blocking the oil depot. On Wednesday evening, as the protesters were evacuated, the vehicles remained at the scene. This morning a local towage company has been called in to try to move the machines. But on the one hand, it would require cranes and vehicles much larger than a simple flatbed trailer. And on the other hand, the convenience store itself declared “solidarity with the movement.” In Brest the problem is the same. A gendarmerie boss was even called in after he refused to intervene at the oil depot.
4.25 pm The commercial port area is completely closed off
The police surround the blockades at the commercial port of Lorient, where the oil depot is located. So they filter entries within this perimeter. For example, a mechanical shovel was blocked on a truck at the entrance to the area.
4 p.m. Protesters and police face each other
Unlike Wednesday evening, when the police quickly evacuated the blockers, this Thursday afternoon the police are standing in front of the demonstrators without intervening. At this time…
3.25 pm Cleaning at the entrance to the fishing port
While the two camps observe each other, a stone’s throw away, we are busy at the entrance to Keroman harbour. The staff is working to remove the remains of charred and still smoking pallets that testify to the blockade by the fishermen of the port of Lorient.
15:05 Status quo
The situation remains frozen at the Lorient oil depot. Law enforcement officers and professionals are waiting. Rue de la Perriere is blocked. “Another new com-operation”, observes Hervé, agricultural contractor. They try to impress us, but that doesn’t change our problems.”
3 a.m. The fishermen of southern Brittany maintain their strike movement
While they had suspended their movement last night, the professional fishermen from Guilvinec and Lorient met this Thursday morning at the Guilvinec fish auction. At the end of the debates, they felt that the support announced by the government was not sufficient and did not meet their expectations. “The continuation of the strike was therefore voted by a majority,” the regional fisheries commission said in a statement. The movement – which was suspended in Lorient on Wednesday evening – is therefore also resumed in the port of Morbihan.
14.30 Conversation with a bailiff
Norbert Guillou exchanges with a bailiff he’s called to check the condition of the machines, before any police intervention. For the time being, he assures that he has not been asked to evacuate the property. It’s the status quo.
2.20 pm The CRS are on site
After a quiet morning, when the blockades resumed their positions around the oil depot, the CRS are back at the bottom of avenue de la Perrière. Just like the day before, on the other hand, there are not many people. “There are fewer than yesterday. They are going to dispose of the 24 tons”. At Finette, the bar by the blocked oil depot, the metal curtain goes down.