A strike on Thursday by French workers to protest against a planned Gaz de France and Suez merger cut about 7 percent of France's generation capacity and 20 percent of gas supplies from northern Europe, the leading CGT union said.
Three top unions called the strike over the merger that will reduce the government's stake in GDF from 80 percent to a third, in spite of French law that requires the state to keep a 70-percent share.
The unions also fear the government will similarly reduce its holding in French state-owned utility EDF, Europe's top power producer, in spite of reassurances it would not.
"Electricity and gas workers have since early in the morning united to promote a policy to keep energy in France and Europe public," said the Communist-led CGT.
The strike cut 8,000 megawatts (MW) of power output mainly at EDF's nuclear and coal-fired plants, as well as the 868 MW Gardanne coal-fired plant owned by SNET, a subsidiary of Spain's Endesa, which also is in the midst of take-over bids.
The gas flow from Europe into northern France was reduced by 20 percent, while supplies from some storage facilities into the netwrok were reduced by as much as 10 percent.
Operations at the country's two liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals, at Fos on the Mediterranean coast and Montoir on the west coast, were also reduced.
EDF, GDF and SNET officials were not available for comment.
The strike also cut off electricity to public building including EDF-GDF offices, police stations, city halls, schools and universities, but has not plunged the country in darkness nor cut off gas supplies, a CGT spokesman confirmed.
Unions aim to hit the firm's profits by cutting power exports or supplies to industrial clients.
The record level of cuts in French power production was 13,000 to 15,000 MW in 2004, out of EDF's total generating capacity of over 100,000 MW.
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