FACED WITH A STRIKE, EXXON LAUNCHES THE PROGRESSIVE SHUTDOWN OF ITS FOS-SUR-MER REFINERY
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PARIS (Reuters) – Exxon announced on Friday that it had begun preparations to gradually shut down its refinery in Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) in the coming days, due to a strike for wage increases at the call from the CGT.
Wage negotiations are scheduled for September, but the unions are urging management to act without delay in the face of the soaring cost of living. The CGT claims the payment of a bonus.
“We remain confident that the situation will be resolved through dialogue,” the company said in a statement.
Exxon’s site in Fos has a refining capacity of 7 million tonnes per year, which corresponds to around 10% of national capacity, according to the company.
The walkouts are part of broader industrial action that this week affected other companies in the energy sector in France, such as state-owned EDF.
ExxonMobil employs some 2,600 people in France.
(Report Benjamin Mallet, written by Myriam Rivet and Sophie Louet, edited by Tangi Salaün)