TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil say they are ready to negotiate with the unions. Elisabeth Borne promises that the situation will improve thanks to deliveries from strategic stocks.
Soon the way out in the social conflict which is blocking refineries and leading to fuel shortages at service stations? TotalEnergies, of which three French refineries are shut down, made a gesture towards the strikers on Sunday. “The company proposes to anticipate in October the mandatory annual negotiation which was scheduled for November », explains the group in a press release. One condition: stop blocking sites beforehand. The CGT, which pulls the strings of this strike, had dropped the ballast on Saturday. Forgotten the claims on hirings and investments in France. The union is determined to talk only about pay during negotiations. “We are ready to start them on Monday on the basis of our wage demand alone. », explains, on Twitter, Éric Sellini, CGT coordinator at TotalEnergies. For its part, the management of Esso-ExxonMobil in France announced Sunday evening in a press release its intention to meet on Monday “the four trade union organizations representing the staff”.
It was time: with this strike of more than ten days which affects five refineries out of eight in France (sites of TotalEnergies and Esso), the deliveries of super and diesel arrive in droplets to the pumps. In addition, the TotalEnergies outlets that offer 30% discounts are taken by storm. Result, Sunday, 29.7% of service stations in France were experiencing supply difficulties. The situation is very worrying in two regions: Hauts-de-France, where 54.8% of stations are out of stock, and Île-de-France, where 44.9% are in the same situation.
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If Total is now less inflexible, it is because it has heard the executive’s calls for conciliation: the Elysée is aware that a fuel shortage can quickly degenerate in France. On Friday, Emmanuel Macron urged all parties to be responsible. On Sunday, the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, kept up the pressure: “I would like to reaffirm the government’s very firm appeal to the leaders and trade unions of Total and Esso. A solution must be found without delay within the framework of the social dialogue, which must take place within the companies. » While the content of the tax on superprofits has not been decided, the French group has no interest in alienating the public authorities.
Already well-paid operators
For its part, the CGT knows that its troops could get tired after an already long conflict, where it is not supported by all the unions. “The CFDT is not so much for preventive strikes”, believes his boss, Laurent Berger. But if negotiations should take place, they will be tough because the two parties are not camped on the same line: the CGT is demanding a 10% salary increase. TotalEnergies handles ambiguity. He has « the desire that all employees be given priority in the sharing of value and receive the fair reward for their efforts on their pay slip before the end of the year ». But he recalls that refinery operators are not to complain with an average remuneration of 5000 euros per month including profit-sharing and participation. Without waiting for an agreement to be reached, the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, promises that stock-outs at the pump will decrease this week thanks to the “deliveries” issues des “strategic stocks” French.
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