The giant TotalEnergies finally signed a majority wage agreement on Friday with two unions and called for an end to the strike which is severely disrupting service stations, but the wage tussle is now spreading to other sectors in France .
Initiated by the CGT union, a non-signatory of the agreement, the strike movement was renewed on Friday at the five TotalEnergies sites, in particular at the Flanders depot (north), the only one where employees were requisitioned to ensure shipments fuel.
On the other hand, the strike was lifted successively Thursday and Friday in the two refineries of the American group Esso-ExxonMobil.
At the end of night negotiations invited for the first time since the start of the strike on September 27 by TotalEnergies, under pressure from the government, a compromise was sealed Friday at midday with two unions (CFDT and CFE-CGC ), with 56% representativeness.
This agreement provides for an increase for 2023 of 7% from November (including 5% guaranteed for non-executives) and 3,000 to 6,000 euros in bonus.
The CGT, for its part, is demanding a 10% increase, corresponding to “inflation, plus the sharing of wealth, since Total is doing well and shareholders have been served for a long time”.
The government had pushed hard for these negotiations to begin, while a third of the service stations were disrupted in recent days in the country, and even more in the north of France, putting the nerves of motorists to the test, with sometimes endless queues.
“We can no longer work! »
This strike is weighing on the economy, with many sectors disrupted, from truck drivers to liberal nurses, including craftsmen and farmers, some of whom fear they will not be able to sow winter cereals.
“For four or five days, it’s been a disaster. We can no longer work,” exclaims Françoise Ernst, a driving school instructor in Paris.
“It’s a real problem, not just for business leaders, for everyone,” says Enzo Rougès, boss in the automotive sector, at a BP station in Paris, taken by storm.
According to a BVA poll published on Friday, only 37% of French people support this social conflict.
The government, which this week requisitioned personnel in fuel depots, “takes its responsibilities and does everything possible to ensure that social dialogue takes place and leads to the settlement of the conflict”, declared Prime Minister Elisabeth on Friday. Thick headed.
“I am following the situation with the greatest attention and I note signs of improvement on certain sites where the shipment of fuel to service stations has resumed,” she added.
Calls for a general strike
Friday morning, justice rejected the appeal of the CGT against the requisition imposed by the government at Esso-ExxonMobil, judging it “necessary to prevent the risk of harm to public order in view of the duration of supply failures caused by the strike.
President Emmanuel Macron assured that the return to normal would take place “in the course of the coming week”.
An analysis shared by experts in the refining sector, for whom the return to calm in service stations is a story of “one or two days”, according to Olivier Gantois, president of Ufip Energies and Mobilities, spokesperson tankers.
But the agreement “will not change the state of mind and the determination of the strikers”, warned Alexis Antonioli, of the CGT, hoping “the generalization of the movement”.
In fact, calls for a “general strike” have been launched, and Tuesday should be the occasion for a day of national mobilization, from transport to civil servants, at the call of four unions and several youth organizations.
Previously, left-wing parties, NGOs and trade unions will march in Paris on Sunday against “high cost of living and climate inaction”, with the hope of opening a new front against the government and President Macron.
France is “a real kettle” with “deeply rooted social anger”, commented to AFP Guy Groux, researcher at the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po (Cevipof).