Wednesday, October 12 promises to be decisive as the strike has been renewed at TotalEnergies for all the sites in the movement as well as at Esso-ExxonMobil in Normandy, despite the threat brandished the day before by the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, to requisition the personnel necessary to unblock the Esso-ExxonMobil depots, and, potentially, TotalEnergies. Six refineries are therefore on strike: the four from TotalEnergies and the two from Esso-ExxonMobil; only that of Lavéra (Petroineos group) is not blocked.
The TotalEnergies refinery in Normandy Gonfreville-L’Orcher, near Le Havre, the Flandres fuel depot, near Dunkirk, the “biorefinery” in La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône) and the Feyzin refinery have voted to renew “and the Donges refinery (Loire-Atlantique) has joined the movement” as announced the day before, Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator for the group, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
At the Esso-ExxonMobil refinery in Port-Jérôme (Seine-Maritime), around fifty striking employees voted unanimously, Wednesday morning by a show of hands, to continue the strike, at the foot of the factory, where pallets burning and without police presence around, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.
“You are all targeted, the government wants to force us to come to work, we are going to fight against that, it is clearly a challenge to the right to strike. We are attacked head-on on our right to strike”declared before the strikers Christophe Aubert, CGT central union representative of Esso-ExxonMobil, recalling that they were going ” tackle “ their « 23e strike day ». “A historic movement”he welcomed.
“The decrees are ready”
On Monday evening, following a crisis meeting at Matignon between Elisabeth Borne and the ministers concerned, Agnès Pannier-Runacher (energy transition), Gérald Darmanin (interior) and Clément Beaune (transport), accompanied by Olivier Véran, spokesperson, the government had mentioned the idea of resorting to requisitions.
Despite pressure from certain ministers and part of the opposition criticizing the government’s disorganization, the Prime Minister had then temporized. “The government has not had a shaking hand. But we gave a chance to social dialogue, also to explain to the French where the blockages came from ”assures Mr. Beaune.
In fact, the requisitions are, for the time being, not effective. The Ministry of Energy Transition assured Tuesday evening that the requisition would only be applied if the resumption of work is not confirmed on Wednesday. “We are monitoring the situation hour by hour”we explain on the side of Mme Pannier-Runacher.
A consultation meeting was also scheduled by the management of TotalEnergies on Wednesday afternoon, to which the CGT was invited, provided that the union lifts the “blockages”specifies the group in a communicated. A prerequisite, for the time being, unacceptable in the eyes of the CGT.
The government recalls that “the decrees are ready”but still does not draw. The device, which involves involving police and gendarmes to notify the required people by going to their homes, acts as a last resort.