No end in sight for French petrol depot blockades, gov't says ready to intervene

Record ID: 1692679

  • Title: No end in sight for French petrol depot blockades, gov't says ready to intervene
  • Date: 11th October 2022
  • Summary: FOS-SUR-MER, FRANCE (OCTOBER 11, 2022) (REUTERS) CGT FLAG AT ROUNDABOUT SECURITY PERSONNEL AT GATES (SOUNDBITE) (French) CGT UNION MEMBER, OLIVIER MATEU, SAYING: “The money is there, the government has to hear that if it proceeds to requisition, as it has threatened to do, they have to know that many other corporations will join this, we will make sure to organise this. They have to understand that things are very clear in the CGT. When workers fight for legitimate demands, they have their organisation’s support.” UNIONISTS GATHERED
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2022 11:26
  • Keywords: France gasoline petrol protest strike unions
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Commodities Markets,Europe,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA004140811102022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT 1437-FRANCE-STRIKE/REFINERIES-PARIS CONTAINS SHOTS OF QUEUE OF CARS AT GAS STATION IN PARIS AND SOUNDBITES OF DRIVERS
    Unionists on Tuesday (October 11) continued on their weeks long blockades of French petrol refineries and depots, as workers on strike insisted on their demand for higher salaries to giants TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil.
    The walkouts and unplanned maintenance at refineries in France run by oil majors TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil have forced more than 60% of national refining capacity offline and blocked distribution from fuel depots.
    In southern France, around 100 unionists on strike picketed outside Total and Esso refineries, with some burning wooden pallets and carrying union flags.
    “We of course share the suffering of every individual,” CGT union representative Lionel Arbiol said. “The staff exercising their right to strike today are not here to disrupt, they’re only here to show their discontent to uphold the real necessity to be able to live decently with their jobs.”
    The refinery strike has caused snaking queues at French service stations and impacted European markets at a time of global shortages in distillates like diesel.
    Benchmark European diesel refining margins hovered near an all-time high of $77.25 a barrel struck on Monday as the industrial action severely tightened supplies.
    The strikes have exacerbated discontent within trade unions towards President Emmanuel Macron, who this autumn delayed a final decision on his contested plans for pension reforms, wary of frustration over the cost-of-living crisis.
    The French government said on Tuesday it stood ready to intervene to end a weeks-long oil refineries strike that has left a third of the country's fuel stations running low and exacerbated a global shortage of distillates.
    "This has lasted long enough, we need to find an agreement in the coming hours," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told franceinfo radio, hours after Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne held a crisis meeting with ministers late on Monday.
    Le Maire said the government was ready to dip once again into strategic fuel reserves and order strikers back to work.
    Speaking to RTL radio, government spokesperson Olivier Veran said the government could also requisition refinery personnel to bring the blockades to a halt.
    But unionist Olivier Mateu said the move to requisition could only add fuel to the CGT’s fire.
    “If it (government) proceeds to requisition, as it has threatened to do, they have to know that many other corporations will join this, we will make sure to organise this,” he said.
    (Production: Eric Gaillard, Ardee Napolitano)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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