Queue in front of a gas station, October 15, 2022 in Paris (AFP / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT)
The strike at TotalEnergies continues on Saturday in refineries and depots, for lack of agreement with the CGT on wage increases, with still significant consequences for many sectors of activity affected by the fuel shortage.
27.3% of service stations are “in difficulty” (breakage of at least one product) on Saturday morning, said Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher on BFMTV, a “slight improvement” by compared to the day before (28.5%).
The strike was extended until Tuesday for the Normandy refinery located near Le Havre, the largest in France, and Wednesday for that of Donges (Loire-Atlantique).
Punctual deliveries of fuel were however able to be made from Donges. “We opened these taps to relax the atmosphere. The objective is not to divide the French, to create tension, the objective is now to bring the French together around the same demand”, indicated Fabien Privé. Saint-Lanne, CGT TotalEnergies secretary.
Striking employees and trade unionists at the TotalEnergies site in Donges, October 14, 2022 in Loire-Atlantique (AFP / LOIC VENANCE)
Votes for the continuation of the movement take place at each shift. “The movement has been renewed in the three establishments” of Mède (bio-refinery in the Bouches-du-Rhône), Feyzin (refinery in the Rhône) and Flandres (fuel depot in the North), said Saturday morning at AFP Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator for the group.
“In Flanders, it is the requisitions that affect the morale of the strikers. If there are no requisitions this weekend, that should help us,” said Thierry Defresne, CGT secretary of the TotalEnergies Europe committee.
The Nord prefecture confirmed that there would be no more requisitions of this deposit between Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Friday, justice had rejected the appeal for interim release filed by the CGT against the requisition of striking personnel from Flanders.
– “Hold” until Tuesday –
The CGT intends to continue the movement until Tuesday, a day of interprofessional “mobilization and strike” to which FO, Solidaires and the FSU have also called.
The Esso-ExxonMobil site in Port-Saint-Jérôme-sur-Seine, near Le Havre, on October 12, 2022 (AFP / Lou BENOIST)
A march against “high cost of living and climate inaction”, called by the Nupes, must also take place on Sunday.
The strike on the sites of TotalEnergies is maintained despite the signing of an agreement on wage increases concluded overnight from Thursday to Friday at TotalEnergies with two majority unions, the CFDT and the CFE-CGC.
But the CGT slammed the door of the discussions, not satisfied with the management’s proposal after nearly three weeks of strike.
“Given the signing of a majority agreement on wages yesterday (Friday), TotalEnergies calls for an end to the strike on all of its sites,” the group told AFP on Saturday.
A service station out of service for lack of fuel, on October 15, 2022 in Paris (AFP / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT)
On the other hand, the strike was lifted Thursday and Friday in the only two refineries of the Esso-ExxonMobil group in France, in Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) then in Gravenchon, in Normandy, after the conclusion of a pay deal on Tuesday.
It will take “two to three weeks” to return to a “normal operating situation” at the production level, warned the group.
– Watch out for sowing –
Matignon had indicated Friday evening that a “return to normal for motorists was expected in the coming week” but Agnès Pannier-Runacher was more cautious, saying that an “improvement” could take “a few days” but that a return to “perfectly normal” could take longer.
According to her, “22% of service stations are in difficulty in Hauts-de-France (against 25.3% Friday), 39.9% in Ile-de-France (against 37% Friday), 36.4% in Center Val de Loire (against 42.2% on Friday)”. The minister wanted to be reassuring for the All Saints holidays, adding that imports could “supplement” the refineries, in addition to the release at the end of September of strategic stocks. “Our challenge is the deposits” where the fuel is stored, she hammered.
Shortages are a headache for many professions, including farmers.
“All the tractors are empty. I siphoned the tank of my combine harvester, there were 3(00) to 400 liters left. It will allow me to feed my cows”, explained to AFP Luc Smessaert, operator near Beauvais.
A gas station in Blois, October 14, 2022 in the Loir-et-Cher (AFP / GUILLAUME SOUVANT)
“We must ensure that (the strike) does not come to too much burden the sowing activities”, reacted during the inauguration of the International Food Fair the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, confirming the existence of “some tensions” in Hauts-de-France.
© 2022 AFP
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