“When employees stop working it is not for pleasure”, declares the CGT

“It seems to me that the strike is constitutional in this country and when the employees stop working it is not for pleasure”, declares Wednesday, October 12 on franceinfo Catherine Perret, member of the confederal office of the CGT. She reacts to the responses of Emmanuel Macron, guest of Caroline Roux on France 2. The Head of State returned to the fuel shortage that the country is currently experiencing. He promises a return to normal next week. The trade unionist finds that the Head of State “is very optimistic and that he should have anticipated things.”

She assures that “The CGT has been alerting the government and employers for months to the issue of wages that are too low. In the petrochemical sector, the majority of employees have decided to go on strike to demand wage increases, particularly in groups which make superprofits and which did not want to share the wealth created by the workers.” For Catherine Perret, “the agreement which was signed by certain trade union organizations [chez Esso]is obviously not shared by the majority of employees who have decided to renew the strike. The trade unionist recalls that it is the employees who decide.

“We at the CGT have no magic button, we listen to the employees who said that the agreement did not suit them and that they were continuing the strike.”

Catherine Perret

franceinfo

Catherine Perret repeats that it is not a question of blocking: “These are employees who have stopped – very massively – work for weeks because they have legitimate demands in terms of wages.” The trade unionist is disappointed with the government’s response, which is “of a government completely obtuse and overwhelmed by the situation” who initiates proceedings “totally illegal requisitions”. She also recalls that the CGT “filed an interim order to have France condemned” on this point.

The priority, according to her, is toopen negotiations immediately, everywhere, in all professional branches to increase wages because this situation is unacceptable.” And the trade unionist to continue: “At the CGT when we negotiate, we come back to the employees and we ask them if the agreement satisfies them in the majority. They vote. Obviously these two unions did not take care to check that the majority of the employees were from agreement with the signature.”

>>> Fuel shortage: TotalEnergies invites non-striking unions to a “consultation” meeting on Wednesday

The member of the confederal office of the CGT accuses the Total group of “Let the situation deteriorate”. “They organized a first meeting but they put pressure to tell the employees that the strike must first be stopped in order to negotiate, but that’s not how we negotiate. […] It is therefore Total and the government that bear the responsibility for the fuel shortage.”she concludes.