(Bloomberg) -- French workers reduced output at Electricite de France SA's nuclear reactors and Total SA refineries as part of a nationwide strike over a government plan to increase the retirement age.
The walkout led to a 5,000-megawatt decrease in nuclear output from EDF reactors, according to CGT union spokeswoman Marie-Claire Cailletaud. Refinery output at Total's French plants is dropping to ⌠minimum levels, company spokesman Michael Crochet-Vourey said. Shipments have been blocked at all plants except Feyzin in the Rhone Valley, he said.
Total management and the CGT union are locked in a legal battle over the idling a year ago of the Flanders refinery near Dunkirk, which the company plans to dismantle. Closure of the refinery triggered a week-long strike in February that led to fuel shortages. Total, Europe's biggest refiner, has five other refineries in France including Gonfreville in Normandy, the largest, Donges, Feyzin, Provence and Grandpuits.