France: strike at TotalEnergies fuel refineries raises fears of a shortage
The movement has been suspended since this weekend at the Donges refinery (Loire-Atlantique) and at the Grandpuits bio-refinery (Seine-et-Marne).
REUTERS - STEPHANE MAHE
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In France, of the seven refineries in France, five were shut down, including that of Normandy, which represents 22% of refining capacity in the territory.
Employees are demanding an increase in wages and recruitment.
Total announced a few days ago the redistribution of 2.62 billion euros in dividends to its shareholders.
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Initiated last Tuesday in several oil sites of the TotalEnergies group, the strike continues this week.
Even if the mobilization is unequal on the territory according to the unions, the strike continued this Wednesday in five of the seven refineries of metropolitan France, including the refinery of Normandy, near Le Havre, which represents 22% of the refining capacities on the territory.
It is the most important of the eight French sites which manufacture fuel, according to Ufip, the Professional Syndicate of Oil Tankers.
For a week no more drop of fuel has left the Le Havre site.
This poses a risk of shortage in places.
TotalEnergies, which owns several, ensures that "
there is no lack of fuel
".
“
We are not leaving with the aim of organizing the shortage.
The important thing for us is above all to knock on the wallet of our boss because we are facing a management which wants to be intransigent, which considers that salaries are not the time to talk about it, to wait until November 15,
explains Alexis Antonioli, general secretary of the CGT Total union on the platforms in Normandy.
For us, there is urgency on wages.
»
The CGT calls in particular for a “
salary catch
-up ” of up to 10% for the year 2022, to compensate for inflation.
The union leader reports a "deep dissatisfaction of employees" whether on wages or working conditions.
“
All this negative context means that today, yes, wages are the match.
But there is a malaise that is much deeper than that
, ”he summarizes.
For its part, management recalls having granted an average increase of 3.5% at the start of the year and refers to the opening of negotiations, initially scheduled for January 2023, and advanced to mid-November in the current context of inflation. .
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