The strikes at TotalEnergies have been going on for almost 3 weeks now. The figures are not improving: 1/3 of service stations in France are still affected by the shortage, according to Francetv.
Last Saturday, the CGT continued the strike in several refineries. The prospect of the general strike scheduled for Tuesday contributes to the trend. Negotiations between TotalEnergies and trade union groups have been successful for CFDT and CFE-CGC, which have signed an agreement with management: a 5% increase for non-executives from November as well as bonuses granted to them in the night from last Thursday to Friday, according to Le Point.
The CGT, meanwhile, left the table after 6 hours of fierce negotiations, maintaining its demand for a 10% increase in wages. These were only the first negotiations since the start of the strike. Alexis Antonioli, CGT general secretary of the TotalEnergies Normandy platform, told Le Point that “the proposals that were on the table are largely insufficient”.
The CFDT-CGC union groups constitute the representation of nearly 56% of the group’s employees, making them the majority. Their deal with management follows the same pattern as at ExxonMobil. The CGT is therefore betting everything on the generalization of the strike movement, which seems to be taking its course with the announcement of the day of mobilization and interprofessional strike next Tuesday, according to Ouest-France.
5 out of 7 French refineries therefore remain on strike, and all eyes are on a government that has already added “fuel to the fire” by resorting to requisitions: Emmanuel Macron tries to reassure the French about the upcoming timetable .
The President of the Republic spoke last week on France 2, assuring that a return to normal would take place “in the course of the coming week”, according to RTL.
This Monday, Clément Beaune, Minister Delegate for Transport, spoke, excluding the possibility of the famous return to normal before next week, reports Francetv. The situation of gas stations has improved in certain regions, in particular in Hauts-de-France, he underlined, a region which the week before was among the most to be pitied. It has, however, deteriorated in other territories, notably in central France.
Clément Beaune also mentioned the fact that, according to him, the only way “to get out of this” was to end the strike. In the meantime, the government is making use of requisitions to make up for the shortages generated by the strike. A modus operandi that arouses indignation.
The Minister Delegate for Transport affirmed that the requisitions were a solution of last resort, and that this was articulated with the right to strike… The pressure of the executive was made increasingly strong on the unions.
Indeed, Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry, spoke on franceinfo this morning, indicating that the government would continue to resort to requisitions if the mobilization continued, as reported by actu.fr.
This Monday, the requisitions of striking personnel continued, in particular by that of two depots, in Dunkirk in the North, and in Feyzin in the Rhône. At the same time, other measures were taken to try to alleviate the impact of the strike on the French.
Indeed, Elizabeth Borne announced at 8 p.m. on TF1 the extension of the fuel price discount until mid-November. Initially, this discount was 18 cents, then increased to 30 cents in September with a view to reducing it to 10 cents in November, a reduction which will therefore not take place for the moment, according to Le Parisien.
Government spokesman Olivier Véran assured that discussions were also underway with TotalEnergies to extend the 20-cent rebate granted by the group for as many days as the supply of the pumps would be affected, an extension which was confirmed by the Prime Minister.
