Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on Tuesday the requisition of personnel to unlock the fuel depots of the Esso-Exxonmobil group, where a wage agreement was reached on Monday by two
unions, which have a majority at the group level but not at its refineries.
“Social dialogue means moving forward, as soon as a majority has been reached. These are not minimum agreements. The announcements made by management are significant. Therefore, I have asked the prefects to initiate, as allowed by law, the procedure for requisitioning the staff essential to the operation of the company’s depots,” said Ms. Borne during questions to the government.
Esso has three depots in France, in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), which is not affected by the strike, in Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) and Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon (Seine-Maritime).
These last two depots, which are located near the company’s two French refineries affected by a strike, are the ones concerned by the requisition.
Commenting on the situation in the other oil group also affected by strike action, TotalEnergies, the head of government urged management and unions to engage in wage negotiations, threatening otherwise to do the same to “unblock the situation.
“At Total, the reformist unions have called for negotiations to be opened. Management has responded favorably. I hope that the other representative unions will seize this opportunity, because social dialogue is always more fruitful than conflict,” said Borne. “Failing that, the government will act, again, to unblock the situation,” she added.
“When the door is open for discussion, when proposals are ready to be discussed, we cannot continue to block the country. Everyone has to take their responsibilities. The government is taking its responsibility. The objective is clear: we want the situation to improve quickly for the daily life of the French,” she insisted.
The Prime Minister was responding to a question from the LR MP Eric Ciotti, who had estimated “that France is no longer governed”, denouncing a “contempt” of the executive.
The government, under fire as a third of gas stations are affected by fuel shortages, had called for an unblocking “without delay” of fuel depots, threatening
to “intervene”, but the strikers have renewed the movement, both at TotalEnergies and at Esso-ExxonMobil.
“You have to know how to end a strike once satisfaction has been obtained,” said Borne, questioned by the leader of the LFI deputies Mathilde Panot who asked him to “stop (the) anti-strike propaganda because the blockage is you” and tax “superprofits”.
The Prime Minister replied that she “shares this concern” about “windfall profits in certain sectors”, referring to the government’s proposals in the draft budget “for companies in the fossil fuel sector”.
