How to get out of the block? The government is asking for “efforts” on wages from oil groups while strikes in refineries and depots have been causing serious fuel supply problems for several days, particularly at TotalEnergies.
“I call on the companies concerned, which, for the most part, still have good results, to also consider requests for a salary increase,” Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, told France Info on Friday. . “We expect companies (…) to make efforts towards employees. »
The largest TotalEnergies refinery, near Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), is shut down. Other sites of the group are on strike. And the two French refineries of its American competitor Esso-ExxonMobil are also shut down, in both cases at the call of the CGT, in order to obtain a wage increase.
15% of stations lack at least one fuel
Tanker trucks will be exceptionally authorized to circulate on Sunday due to “fairly localized but significant difficulties”, also announced on LCI the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, who will bring together the transporters’ federations “to see locally where we can improve supply.
“We are doing everything so that in the coming days this situation can be resolved” and the government is “in connection with Total to try to facilitate social dialogue”, he said, adding that France could release “more” of strategic stocks to calm the situation.
Currently, 15% of service stations are affected by a shortage of one or more fuels, according to a figure quoted by several ministers, due to a strike for wages in TotalEnergies refineries, which is superimposed on rebates pump granted by the group and by the State.
“Compensate for Inflation”
“We are not there to annoy people, we are there to show Total the dissatisfaction of employees because there is no sharing of wealth”, explained on RMC Thierry Defresne, CGT secretary of the committee of European company of TotalEnergies. The group has also announced the payment of an additional exceptional dividend of 2.6 billion euros to its shareholders.
“We give a lot to the shareholders, but we completely forget the employees,” he regretted. “There are fabulous profits and we don’t want to compensate for inflation. TotalEnergies did not report on the impact of the social conflict on its stations, contenting itself with telling AFP on Thursday that the situation was “stable”.