The movement was renewed early Thursday morning at the refinery of Gonfreville (Seine-Maritime) and the depot Feyzin (Rhone), but it “is suspended everywhere else,” said to AFP Eric Sellini, national coordinator of the CGT for TotalEnergies.
The employees must decide again at midday on whether or not to renew the movement.
After three weeks of blockades, employees of the “Flandres” site in Mardyck, near Dunkirk, and La Mède in the Bouches-du-Rhône decided on Wednesday evening to resume work when the night shifts were due to start.
The end of the strike had been voted earlier in the day at the refinery of Donges (Loire-Atlantique).
The mobilization initiated by the CGT on September 27 has caused significant difficulties in fuel supply, exasperating individuals and professionals struggling to fill their tanks. Pressure on the government has increased as schools close Friday night for a two-week vacation.
“The situation continues to improve significantly,” had stressed Wednesday the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. “I know that the situation is still difficult for many of our compatriots, but the momentum is there and I want to once again call on the striking employees to return to work,” she had added.
On Wednesday at 13:00, one in five gas stations (20.3%) had supply difficulties on at least one fuel (compared to 24.8% on Tuesday), with situations still tense in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (33.1%), Ile-de-France (30.5%) and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (29.4%), according to the latest figures Wednesday from the Ministry of Energy Transition.
According to the Vinci Autoroutes group, at least 90% of the service stations in its network were able to supply fuel: “Continuity of service at the 181 service areas in the Vinci Autoroutes network is guaranteed at an average of 90% for unleaded petrol and 92% for diesel.
Significant improvements
Pressed to speed up deliveries to the stations, the government has once again requisitioned employees to work on Wednesday at the Feyzin site.
“The unblocking of the Feyzin depot allows for significant improvements”, the Prime Minister assured.
On this site, there were Thursday morning “90% of strikers” according to the CGT union delegate Pedro Afonso, who denounces “visits of the forces of order” until 23:30 Wednesday night, to inform employees that they were requisitioned the next day from 4am. The CGT is at the origin of the movement to demand wage increases, against a backdrop of high inflation and super profits made by TotalEnergies, with the surge in prices linked in particular to the war in Ukraine.
The union told AFP that on Wednesday it had unsuccessfully proposed a “Protocol for ending the conflict” to the group’s management, including “local negotiations on specific issues raised by the strikers”.
For its part, TotalEnergies argued that there was no need to reopen negotiations, as an agreement had been reached on Friday with the group’s two majority unions, CFE-CGC and CFDT. A text that the CGT did not sign.
The agreement provides for a general salary increase of 5%, with individual increases and a one-off bonus of between 3,000 and 6,000 euros. The CGT demanded a 10% wage increase. There was also a strike at Esso-ExxonMobil, which was lifted last week after a wage agreement was reached.
