The strike at the refineries of the French energy group TotalEnergies continued this Saturday, in the absence of an agreement on a wage increase with the CGT union, and its effects continued to be felt in many sectors affected by fuel shortages.
The stoppage was extended in several refineries of the group, including the one located near Le Havre (northwest), the most important in the country, where the strike is called until Tuesday, union sources indicated.
The idea is to join forces for Tuesday, when the CGT, FO, Solidaires and FSU unions have called an interprofessional strike, to which they invite railway workers, port personnel and officials to join.
Meanwhile, this Sunday a march against "rising cost of living and climate inaction"at the initiative of Nupes, the leftist coalition.
The strike at the TotalEnergies refineries continues despite the signing on Friday morning of a wage increase agreement (7% plus bonuses) between TotalEnergies and two major unions, CFDT and CFE-CGC. The CGT, which is demanding a 10% increase, nevertheless denounced the negotiation as a farce.
Where the strike was lifted this week was at the two refineries of the Esso-ExxonMobil group in France, thanks to a salary agreement on Tuesday and under pressure from the executive, determined to take control of the plants so that activity could resume.
The government of liberal President Emmanuel Macron, accused by the opposition of having mismanaged this crisis, expects a "back to normal" for motorists next week.
Meanwhile, the fuel shortage caused by these strikes that began on September 27 remained a puzzle for many professionals, including farmers.
"All the tractors are empty. I had to empty the tank of my harvester, there were between 300 and 400 liters left. That will allow me to feed my cows"Luc Smessaert, from Beauvais, near Paris, explained to AFP.
The Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, assured the BFMTV network that 27.3% of the country’s gas stations lacked at least one type of fuel, a figure that rose to 39.9% in the region of Paris.