The tone is rising among TotalEnergies employees in France.

A strike movement lasting at least three days indeed started on Tuesday, reports the CGT which reports a mobilization of 70% of the workforce present.

The main objective is to obtain, in particular, an increase in wages.

“We call for no product to be taken out of refineries and petrochemicals, where the CGT is established,” said Benjamin Tange, CGT central trade union representative for the petrochemical refining of TotalEnergies in France.

Among the main sites concerned: the bio-refinery of La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône), the Normandy refineries in Le Havre, Donges (Loire-Atlantique), Carling (Moselle), Feyzin (Rhône) and Oudalle (Seine-Maritime ), as well as the fuel depots of Grandpuits (Seine-et-Marne) and Flandres (Nord).

Entrances and exits blocked

At La Mède, the social movement was followed by 80% of employees, resulting "in the blocking of all entries and exits of products from the refinery", indicated Fabien Cros, secretary (CGT) of the Economic and Social Committee (CSE). ).

In volume, according to him, this is equivalent to "about a hundred tankers that do not leave, not counting the products normally sent by train or directly by pipeline".

"When we do the ratio, we can say that there are just over 70% of strikers (compared to the workforce present) among production operators today," said Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator for the group. , who recalled that the call was initially confined to refineries and fuel depots.

Anticipated station supply

Contacted, the group's management did not confirm the figure of 70% of strikers.

It said it had, in anticipation of the movement, “anticipated the necessary logistical measures in order to be able to supply its network of service stations and its customers normally”.

She recalled that French employees on the common social base "benefited from wage measures representing an average increase of 3.5% in 2022", and added that "negotiations will start in November", i.e. two months earlier. than usual, "in order to see how employees can benefit from the results generated by TotalEnergies".

Continuation the following days?

In addition to an "immediate salary increase of 10% for the year 2022", the CGT calls for the "thaw of hiring" in France and "a massive investment plan" in France, recalled Benjamin Tange, stressing that these claims had already been at the origin of movements on June 24 and July 28 last.

Some of the employees receive "extremely low salaries and there is a need to revalue them to the level of what the group generates as profits", underlined the union official, who hopes "a very strong mobilization", in order to continue to weigh the next days.

Apart from disruptions in the supply of fuel stations, he estimated that the production of refineries could experience a drop in flows of 20 to 30%, in the event of strong mobilization.

TotalEnergies employs 35,000 people in France, including its subsidiaries.

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