France tells TotalEnergies to hike wages as strikes drag on

Record ID: 1693008

  • Title: France tells TotalEnergies to hike wages as strikes drag on
  • Date: 13th October 2022
  • Summary: MARDYCK, FRANCE (OCTOBER 13, 2022) (REUTERS) TOTALENERGIES REFINERY UNIONISTS GATHERED OUTSIDE THE REFINERY POLICE OUTSIDE REFINERY TOTAL SIGN OUTSIDE REFINERY PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 12, 2022) (REUTERS) FUEL PUMPS WITH SIGN READING (French): "OUT OF SERVICE" VARIOUS OF CLOSED TOTALENERGIES GAS STATION RED LIGHTS CLOSED GAS STATION SIGN FOR TOTALENERGIES
  • Embargoed: 27th October 2022 11:53
  • Keywords: Bruno Le Maire CGT Exxon France Philippe Martinez Total petrol refineries strike unions
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001197313102022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: France told TotalEnergies to raise wages on Thursday (October 13) as the oil firm's two-week standoff with striking workers, which has sapped the country's petrol supplies, dragged on.
    Oil depot and refinery strikes have reduced France's petrol output by more than 60% and left one in three petrol stations struggling for fuel. They have spread this week to other energy companies, including the nuclear power group EDF.
    The strikes at five of EDF's nuclear plants are delaying maintenance and fuel reloading, at a time when the French utility is already struggling to get enough reactors back online for winter amid a wider European energy crisis.
    "Companies which have the capacity have a duty to raise wages and Total is one of them", Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio, adding it was late to start talks with the CGT trade union.
    First talks between TotalEnergies and CGT leaders were held on Wednesday (October 12) but failed to end the stalemate. A union representative told Reuters on Thursday that strikes affecting four refineries and a site in Dunkirk would continue.
    A local union representative told Reuters that five workers on strike at TotalEnergies' storage depot in Dunkirk had been ordered back to work on Thursday. The union representative also said police were present at the site.
    The French government confirmed the back-to-work order, with a source in the prime minister's office saying it would come into force at 2 p.m. local time (1200 GMT).
    “The situation will not go back to normal in the region just like that, within one day,” said unionist Clement Mortier, who was picketing outside the Mardyck refinery, near Dunkirk. “What risks to happen is worse, because this will set a flame to the social dialogue at TotalEnergies in France.”
    Speaking to BFMTV on Thursday, CGT union head Philippe Martinez said the group will propose as soon as next Tuesday (October 18) new calls for strikes and protests in both public and private sectors to widen the movement.
    TotalEnergies said in a statement the conditions to hold wage talks with all unions were not in place as the blockade continued, but also announced it would make a one-off bonus payment to its workforce worldwide.
    The payment would amount to a month's salary, to be paid in December, the company said, adding that it had also told unions it was ready to consider a pay increase in 2023 of 6%, to match inflation in 2022.
    (Production: Ardee Napolitano, Pascal Rossignol)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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