The strike had already been extended until Tuesday and Wednesday in the refineries of Normandy and Donges.
The strike in the French refineries of TotalEnergies continues for lack of agreement on wage increases with the CGT, and with still significant consequences on many sectors of activity affected by the shortage of fuels. The social movement had already been renewed on two sites, until Tuesday for the Normandy refinery located near Le Havre, the largest in France, and Wednesday for that of Donges (Loire-Atlantique).
“The movement was renewed in the three establishments” from La Mède (biorefinery in the Bouches-du-Rhône), Feyzin (refinery in the Rhône) and Flanders (North), Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator for the group, told AFP on Saturday morning, without giving more details. “The beams of information that I receive from right to left, there is no problem, it lasts until Tuesday“, said Friday to AFP Thierry Defresne, CGT secretary of the TotalEnergies Europe committee.
“Here, in Flanders, it is the requisitions that affect the morale of the strikers. If there are no requisitions this weekend, that should help us get through the weekend“, he added. The administrative court of Lille on Friday rejected the appeal for interim relief filed by the CGT which contested the legality of the requisition by the prefecture of striking personnel in this fuel depot.
SEE ALSO – Fuels: strike renewed at the TotalEnergies refinery in Donges
Junction with Tuesday’s strike
Several sites intend to continue the movement until the junction with the day of “mobilization and strikeTuesday’s interprofessional call to which the CGT, FO, Solidaires and the FSU called. In this perspective, calls forgeneral strikehave been launched, particularly in transport (SNCF, RATP, dockworkers) and in the public service. A march againsthigh cost of living and climate inaction“, at the call of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Nupes, must also take place on Sunday.
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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. These were the first negotiations since the start of the strike on September 27.
On the other hand, the strike was lifted successively 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. But it will taketwo to three weeks» to find a «normal running conditionat the level of production at the refinery, which was completely blocked during the movement, the group warned.
The optimistic government
For its part, the government has remained on the line mentioned this week by the President of the Republic, with a “return to normal for motorists expected in the coming week“, according to Matignon Friday evening. But the opposition accuses the executive of having badly managed this crisis and of being too optimistic.
In the meantime, fuel shortages are a headache for many professions, including farmers. “All tractors are empty. I siphoned the tank from my combine harvester, there were 3 to 400 liters left. It will allow me to feed my cows“, explained to AFP Luc Smessaert, operator near Beauvais.
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Friday, the number of service stations encountering supply difficulties had fallen slightly at midday, to 28.5% against 29.2% the previous evening, according to the Ministry of Energy Transition. Fuel deliveries from the Donges refinery, near Saint-Nazaire, should take place “sporadically” during the weekend for “calm tensions down“, announced Friday the CGT.