The blockage continues and the situation will quickly become tense at service stations. The CGT Chimie has decided to renew the strikes in the refineries, raising fears of an increase in shortages at the pump. This Wednesday, ruptures of at least one fuel are recorded in 969 of the 10,103 stations observed, or 9.6%, according to the site “prix-carburants.gouv.fr”, of the Ministry of Energy Transition. Since Tuesday, employees have been blocking trucks at the entrance and exit of refineries to slow down or even stop the supply of gasoline and diesel and to dry out the stations, as last fall.
The threat of government “requisitions”
Despite full strategic reserves, the government is waving the threat of “requisitions”, like what it had practiced in October, to avoid a dark scenario that would paralyze part of the economy. “We cannot prevent people from going to work. If there were real blockages in the refineries, we would not let it happen, ”warned Transport Minister Clément Beaune this Wednesday morning.
The “hazardous materials” drivers, responsible for transporting the fuel stored in the strategic reserves, will continue to drive. Among the truckers, FO calls on its troops to continue the actions, unlike the other unions, including the CFDT Route, leader of the sector. Filtering dams, here or there, are to be expected.
The vigilance of public authorities is also increasing in energy. The CGT strikers are slowing down or even interrupting the production of electricity in nuclear, hydraulic or thermal power stations. EDF employees thus withdrew 15,000 megawatts (MW) from the electricity grid on Wednesday, ie the cumulative power of fifteen nuclear reactors. For the moment, there is no risk of a power outage. In the event of a supply threat, RTE, the network manager, would have the possibility of ordering the end of the blockage and increasing production.
The railway workers, too, continue their mobilization. This Thursday, the disturbances on the rails will remain at the same level as the day before. The SNCF plans one TGV out of three and two TER out of five this Thursday. “We are going to convince on the ground to further broaden the mobilization and hold on for a long time”, warns Julien Troccaz, SUD Rail federal secretary. The railway company is already anticipating “severely disrupted traffic” on Friday. Same thing in the air. As in the past two days, between 20 and 30% of flights will be canceled at the various French airports, Thursday and Friday.
There is only the RATP, where the mobilization weakens but does not break. Traffic will improve, again, on average at least two out of three trains on certain sections and a return to normal on several metro lines, and all buses and trams. In the capital, trash cans will continue to pile up in the streets, since the garbage collectors, led by the CGT, will strike until the end of the week.