French union CGT says strikes partially ended

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TotalEnergies workers halted their strikes at all but two sites in France on Thursday, according to a CGT union representative as quoted by Reuters.

The representative added that morning staff at the Normandy and Feyzin refineries were the only ones to continue the stoppage.

While roughly one in every five French petrol stations is still experiencing shortages, supplies have been improving after the government increased imports and requisitioned some staff following nearly four weeks of disruption.

"We have been seeing a significant improvement of the situation recently", government spokesperson Olivier Veran said, stressing authorities would continue the requisitions "as long as necessary."

In further detail, the morning employees at TotalEnergies' La Mede refinery and a storage facility in Dunkirk chose to return to work, according to a CGT representative.

On Wednesday, the same decision was reportedly made at the Donges refinery. The situation at the two remaining strike sites may change later in the day, when workers gather ahead of the next shift to vote on whether to continue the walkouts.

TotalEnergies reached a wage agreement with the majority of its unions earlier this month, resulting in a 7% pay increase on average next year, according to the company.

The hardline CGT union, which had demanded 10%, did not approve the deal, but the desire to continue the strike appears to be waning.

This comes after France has lately suffered from major disruptions after unions called a nationwide transport strike, which sparked fuel shortages throughout the country, most notably in northern and central France and the Paris region.