Under fire from critics while a third of the country’s service stations are affected by shortages, the French government announced on Tuesday the requisition of personnel to unblock fuel depots from the Esso-Exxonmobil group.
From north to south of France, the same scenes are repeated: closed stations, endless queues, rising prices and the morale of motorists at half mast.
At Esso-Exxonmobil, a wage agreement was reached on Monday by two trade unions, the majority at the group level but not at its refineries.
“I asked the prefects to initiate, as permitted by law, the procedure for requisitioning the personnel essential to the operation of the depots of this company”, declared the French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, at the National Assembly.
“Social dialogue means moving forward once a majority has emerged. These are not agreements at least. Management announcements are meaningful,” she said.
” Unblock the situation “
Esso has three depots in France, in Toulouse (southwest), Fos-sur-Mer (south) and Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon (northwest). The last two are near the company’s two French refineries, which are on strike.
Commenting on the situation at TotalEnergies, the other oil group affected by strike movements, the head of government urged management and unions to engage in wage negotiations, threatening if not to do the same as for Esso-Exxonmobil in order to “unblock the situation “.
“At Total, the reformist unions called for the opening of negotiations. Management responded positively. I hope that the other representative unions will seize this outstretched hand, because social dialogue is always more fruitful than conflict,” said Ms. Borne. “Failing that, the government will act, again, to unblock the situation. »
At TotalEnergies, employees voted again Monday morning “by a large majority for the continuation of the strike”, announced Eric Sellini, of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT).
This concerns in particular its refinery in Normandy (north-west of France), its fuel depot in Flanders (north) and its “biorefinery” in La Mède (south).
The unions highlight the super profits made by the oil groups, which benefit from the surge in prices linked to the war in Ukraine. TotalEnergies thus reaped US$10.6 billion in profits in the first half.
For several weeks, the country has been affected by strikes in refineries and fuel depots, at the call of trade unions demanding wage increases.
This social movement has started to create major difficulties for motorists since last week.
“When there are negotiation proposals, you have to take them up. Otherwise it is no longer a strike to obtain results, it is quite simply a blockage of the country, and that is not acceptable, ”declared the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, on France Info.
“The government calls for all blockages to be lifted without delay. Otherwise, we will take our responsibilities, that is to say that we could have to lift them, ”also said government spokesman Olivier Véran, the day after an emergency meeting.
“Lack of anticipation”
However, many motorists and certain professions in particular deplore this situation, such as private nurses, who are worried about not being able to visit their patients and endangering their health.
“I spent three hours [hier midi] in a station queue. I had to do my rounds in speed and leave my patients on stand-by to refuel quickly, ”said AFP Sandrine Monteiro, a 35-year-old liberal nurse.
The oppositions accused the government, the right and the extreme right criticizing a “lack of anticipation” and a “febrility”, when the left denounced “threats for the employees but [des] hugs for the bosses”.
Mr. Véran estimated that regaining “normal functioning” in the most affected regions would “take a few days”, and assured that “this will be the case within 15 days”.
He also considered it abnormal that “a few strike profiteers” have caused “the prices of gasoline at the pump” to jump in certain stations.