“We consulted the strikers and it is a massive categorical refusal, they (the employees) do not want this requirement to negotiate”, declared Thierry Defresne, CGT secretary of the TotalEnergies Europe committee.
The situation remained at a standstill at TotalEnergies where the strikers refused on Wednesday evening a proposal from management to lift the blockades of fuel depots, a few hours after a first requisition launched by the government at Esso-ExxonMobil in order to supply service stations. Ile-de-France dry.
At the end of a new meeting at the headquarters of TotalEnergies in La Défense, the strikers firmly refused a proposal to release deliveries early Thursday morning, as a condition for opening in the wake of wage negotiations.
Earlier in the day, the management had nevertheless agreed for the first time to receive the CGT on Wednesday. Until now, it required as a prerequisite the lifting of blockages to see the second union of the group.
The movement continues
Wednesday afternoon, Philippe Martinez, leader of the CGT, who came in support of ExxonMobil employees, denounced a “scandalous decision” and announced the filing of an interim order on Thursday to oppose it.
The requisition does not target refinery operations and therefore fuel production. It “will make it possible to ensure the shipment of products”, “normally today to the Paris region” by pipeline, a spokeswoman for Esso France said on Wednesday.
The strikers at the Flanders depot of TotalEnergies, near Dunkirk, will be the next to be requisitioned, the government has assured.
President Emmanuel Macron has planned a return to normal in the distribution of fuels “in the course of the coming week”, during an interview on France 2 on Wednesday evening, also calling for “responsibility” of the management. of TotalEnergies and the CGT.
Six of the seven refineries in France were on strike on Wednesday: the four from TotalEnergies and the two from Esso-ExxonMobil; only that of Lavéra, (Petroineos group) is not blocked. Added to this are the TotalEnergies depots in La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône) and Flandres, which supplies Hauts-de-France, both shut down.