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10:50 a.m. : The oil giant TotalEnergies proposes to increase its French employees by 6% in 2023, the group announced to AFP. This measure must be added to the bonus of one month’s salary, announced this morning for employees worldwide. “I don’t think it’s likely to satisfy” the strikers, who are asking for a 10% increase, commented on franceinfo Emmanuel Lépine, a representative of the CGT.
10:10 a.m. : Near the border with France, Belgian service stations have recorded a 15 to 20% increase in demand. The French rush to our neighbors because of fuel shortages. “In France, I did not find an SP95-E10 and I was on the reserve”explains a Lille woman to franceinfo.
(FARIDA NOUAR / RADIO FRANCE)
09:56 : Some departments are organizing to deal with fuel shortages. In the Bouches-du-Rhône, for example, the prefecture has announced the requisition of seven service stations, explains France 3, which are now reserved in the morning (from 6 a.m. to noon) for professions deemed to have priority (doctors, hospital staff, funeral services, etc.).
09:33 : The strike is renewed at Esso-ExxonMobil on the two sites concerned by the social movement, announces the CGT.
09:13 : Here are the main news headlines:
The strike in the refineries of TotalEnergies has been renewed “by a very large majority”according to the CGT.
Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, believes that TotalEnergies must “increase wages”. The group announces a “exceptional bonus”. Philippe Martinez, the leader of the CGT, repeats that the employees are asking for a 10% increase.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne today begins political consultations on the controversial pension reform in Matignon.
Two years after the assassination of Samuel Paty, teachers and students will honor the memory of the teacher killed by a radicalized young man. The anti-terrorism investigating judges closed their investigations last week.
The UN General Assembly condemned with a majority “overwhelming” illegal Russian annexations of Ukrainian territories.
08:45 : “It’s called communication”reacts Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the CGT, interviewed on BFMTV. “A negotiation is not an announcement from the CEO or HR (…), it’s getting around a table.” Furthermore, he adds that the “dispute relates to general salary increases” and not on a bonus – the claim, he says, is around “by 10%”.
08:41 : TotalEnergies announces “an exceptional bonus representing one month’s salary to all of its employees worldwide”. The group explains that it met the non-striking trade union organizations yesterday, but adds that “the conditions are not met to organize the negotiation between all the representative organizations, the CGT having decided to maintain the blockages.”
08:36 : TotalEnergies offers the distribution of a bonus “exceptional” for its employees worldwide.
08:34 : “We must dialogue and obtain wage increases”, to put an end to the strikes in the refineries, says @CfdtBerger, the general secretary of the CFDT. “This situation at Total lasts because we don’t sit around the table, because there is no dialogue.”
08:34 : “We need to dialogue and obtain salary increases. Our CFDT teams at TotalEnergies are demanding salary increases of up to 8%, a substantial value-sharing bonus… Yes, the workers are right to ask for salary increases to cope with inflation and for a true sharing of the wealth created.”
“We need a negotiation session” in the hours or days to come, says Laurent Berger, secretary general of the CFDT. Invited on France Inter, he calls on all parties, unions and management, to put themselves “around the table”.
08:36 : TotalEnergies “must increase his wages”declared Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, just now on RTL. “They have the capacity, therefore the duty, to increase the wages of all their employees in proportions that they will negotiate with the trade unions”he explained, while the strike in the French refineries of TotalEnergies was renewed.
08:03 : The strike movement continues at TotalEnergies, learned franceinfo from Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator. The strike is renewed in four of the five refineries and biorefineries: Gonfreville-l’Orcher (Seine-Maritime), Donges (Loire-Atlantique), Feyzin (Rhône) and La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône).
07:56 : “Does the CGT want the general blocking of the country or the negotiation in good faith? It must clarify its position, an unbearable situation”, @BrunoLeMaire in #RTLMatin with @amandine_begot
08:07 : “It’s unbearable for our compatriots. (…) There is no reason to block the country. The question is: ‘what does the CGT want?’ Does she want wage negotiations? – this is perfectly legitimate, this is the role of a trade union organization. Or does she want the general blocking of the country? This is totally unacceptable. The CGT must clarify its position.
“Total has reached out for negotiations, it was time”declares Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, on RTL. “The management and the CGT must reach an agreement on wages.”
07:41 : ? Requisitions ➡️ “We are going to go, like the CGT, in summary proceedings hour by hour to put an end to these requisitions”, assures the secretary general of FO. “There are plenty of places where there are strikes, except that these companies are not in the spotlight. The strike is not a goal.”
07:41 : The Force Ouvrière union joined the strike movement carried out in refineries and fuel depots at TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil. “Requisitions are not acceptable”, explains on franceinfo Frédéric Souillot, secretary general of FO. The strike has been going on for “sixteen days” and “it is today, because there is a shortage of fuel, that the government is moved”.
07:21 : “[Les directions d’entreprises] cannot permanently apply the policy of the ostrich and wait until the conflict arrives to open intelligent and respectful negotiations.
François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGC, estimates on franceinfo that “the social climate is not good” at TotalEnergies. It also responds to the criticisms made in particular by Emmanuel Macron, who called for the “responsibility” of the CGT, last night, on France 2. “It’s clumsy to stigmatize a union organization.”
06:42 : This morning, Le Figaro returns to the strike movement in the refineries. “The executive facing the risk of contagion”headlines the daily, observing for example that the strike is spreading in the nuclear sector.
07:29 : TotalEnergies salaried strikers refused “categorically” to resume fuel deliveries this morning at 5 a.m. Management had set this condition to open wage negotiations at 8 am. “We wasted too much time, now we are negotiating without conditions”commented Thierry Defresne, a representative of the CGT.
07:32 : This is the word of the day : “get by”. Many regional press titles return to fuel shortages and soaring prices. Professionals, in particular, are penalized by the situation.
07:33 : Here are the main news headlines:
The strike continues at Esso-ExxonMobil, targeted by the first requisitions of employees. On the side of TotalEnergies, the situation is at a standstill after the refusal of the striking employees to release the fuel shipments.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne today begins political consultations on the controversial pension reform in Matignon.
The examination of the finance bill for the year 2023 continued in the National Assembly, against the backdrop of the threat of recourse to Article 49.3 of the Constitution.
The UN General Assembly condemned with a majority “overwhelming” illegal Russian annexations of Ukrainian territories.
Emmanuel Macron announced on France 2 that France was going “deliver, in the coming weeks, radars and anti-aircraft missiles to protect Ukraine”as well as six additional Caesar guns.