How to restore the situation in French service stations? The government increased late Monday, October 10 the pressure on the unions and the management of the blocked refineries so that they negotiate, while nearly a third of the service stations are still affected by fuel shortages in France, and that the CGT renewed its strike action for Tuesday. And the word “requisition” was therefore pronounced during a late meeting, in Matignon, between the Prime Minister and four ministers concerned.
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Despite repeated calls from the government to negotiate on wages and to end the blockades, the CGT and the management of TotalEnergies have not been able to reach an agreement. Faced with this impasse, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who had just returned from a trip to Algiers, brought together several ministers urgently in the evening at Matignon, in order to develop the most effective way out of the crisis possible. The government is counting on a rapid resolution of the conflict at Esso-Exxon Mobil: several unions have thus signed an agreement with the management, although the strike will be maintained on Tuesday. The government hopes that the unblocking of refineries will begin, therefore, in the hours to come.
At Total, it’s different: the government wants the management to seize the hand extended by certain unions for the opening of rapid negotiations. If the strike is not lifted in the coming days, the government “will take its responsibilities to ensure the supply of the French“, we are told. In short: either he is content to continue to increase the pressure on all the actors, or he goes to the “requisition” refineries. This can be decided by the prefects on behalf of “continuity of public service” in particular. Concretely, this would consist of releasing the pickets, if necessary by calling on the police, in order to make designated employees work. This has already been seen in 2010. This last option sounds like an ultimate pressure to bring everyone back to the negotiating table.
“A wage disagreement does not justify blocking the country. To refuse to discuss is to make the French the victims of a lack of dialogue“, commented the entourage of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. “The government can’t let the country be locked down“, it was insisted: “It will continue to take measures to facilitate the supply of stations as it has been doing for several days.“, but “everyone must take responsibility. The government will take its own“.
It is in this tense context that the government unveiled a “temporary solidarity contribution“, a kind of tax on superprofits who does not say his name and which will not please the oil groups, TotalEnergies in the lead. The executive has thus tabled an amendment to the 2023 finance bill aimed at introducing an exceptional contribution on the excess profits of the oil industries. This contribution, up to 33%, would affect companies whose results exceed the average of the last four years by 20%. It is, in fact, a French version of a measure taken by the 27 at European level.