TRAVEL NEWS
The French government has announced that it will use its emergency powers on striking refinery workers – so when will the blockades end and will there still be shortages during the autumn school holidays?
Published: 11 October 2022 15:13 CEST
A banner reading “On strike” is seen at the entrance of Total Energies refinery in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France. Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP
This week a strike by workers at the French energy giants Total and Esso entered its third week, and workers involved in the pay dispute have also staged blockades at refineries around the country.
This has lead to filling stations around the country running out of petrol (gasoline) and diesel.
MAP: How to find petrol or diesel during France’s fuel shortages
With the autumn school holidays – a peak season for French tourism – approaching, we look at what happens next.
What is the dispute?
The strike has been called by the hardline CGT union, which is demanding a pay increase for employees in order to cope with the rising cost of living, pointing out that Total and Esso has made huge windfall profits following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Labour unions representing a majority of Esso’s overall staff agreed to a salary deal with management on Monday, but the CGT and FO unions, the largest at most refineries, voted to persue the blockage. By Tuesday, no deal had been reached with Total bosses.
Pay disputes are usually one of the easier disputes to settle, since it simply requires a promise from a single company. It is strikes against proposed government plans – such as pension reform – or action against a more general problem – like the cost of living – that tend to last for weeks or even months.
Many sectors in France have already won pay increases to deal with inflation – the government’s 2023 budget includes pay rises for public sector workers while air traffic control staff won themselves a pay increase after staging two strike days in September.
What is the government doing?
Usually the French government doesn’t get directly involved in a strike if it is a simple pay dispute between workers and their bosses, but it can and will take action if national security or infrastructure is threatened, and the national network of fuel stations is counted as part of the country’s infrastructure.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that the government would use the rarely-used emergency power known as “requisition” on the striking workers at Esso.
Borne said: “Social dialogue means moving forward, as soon as agreement has been reached. The management’s announcements are significant. Therefore, I have asked the local authorities to engage, as permitted by law, the procedure for requisitioning staff essential to the operation of the depots of this company.”
The requisition power allows local Préfets to compel workers to return to work, on pain of a €10,000 fine or six months in prison. The rarely-used power can be invoked only when the country’s national security or stability is threatened by strike action which undermines the infrastructure – in this case the fuel network.
The requisition currently only affects Esso workers, but it could be extended to Total employees too if agreement cannot be reached.
So what does that mean?
Blockades are likely to continue at least in the short term at Total, but opening up Esso refineries will allow more fuel to be delivered to filling stations around France.
However, it is likely to take some time before the situation is completely back to normal.
Government spokesman Olivier Véran on Tuesday told RTL radio that it would take “several days” for all the filling stations to be replenished, with hopefully everything returning to normal “within two weeks”.
What about the school holidays?
School holidays in France begin on Saturday, October 22nd and last for two weeks. It’s common for French parents to take time off work during this period and take a trip, while British families often visit France at this time. Holidays in most parts of the UK also take place in the final week of October.
Véran on Tuesday said that things should be back to normal “within two weeks” – ie by the start of the school holidays.