France's TotalEnergies strikes continue despite government efforts
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Workers at five sites owned by TotalEnergies continue their strikes.
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Striking workers use a red flare in front of Total gasoline tanks, October 13, 2022 (Reuters)
Concerns are compounding in France over the country's oil supply as refinery and fuel depot workers continue their strike on Saturday before wider protests set to take place next week.
Four of France's seven refineries, as well as one fuel depot, had their operations shut down when strikers rejected an offer to raise their wages from TotalEnergies. The strikes have led to queues forming outside gas stations in France, with worry spreading across all sectors of the economy.
Workers at two other refineries run by Esso-ExxonMobil struck a bargain with management, however, allowing for operations to resume there.
As 30% of French gas stations were operating with little to no fuel, the government began to force fuel workers back to their jobs, or risk prosecution.
France's Prime Minister's office said the emergency measures to force the workers back were justified because of a "real economic threat." This caused the unions to react even more angrily.
TotalEnergies offered on Tuesday evening to consult unions whose workers were not on strike while renewing an offer to the hard-left CGT union currently leading the protests to negotiate.
"What we are seeing here is the Macronian dictatorship," CGT official Benjamin Tange told AFP on Saturday. The current industrial action, he said, arose out of "the anger of several months, several years and a rupture of social dialogue."
TotalEnergies made a net profit of $5.7 billion in the 2nd quarter and is paying out billions to shareholders as its employees are pushing for higher wages. France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire even weighed in on the fact, saying that the oil giant, given its huge profits, had the capacity "and therefore an obligation" to raise workers' pay.
