PETROL STRIKE. While Elisabeth Borne reported a “significant improvement” in gas stations, can the strike in Total refineries end this Wednesday noon?
The essential
- The strike in the refineries continues this Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at least until noon. The CGT announced that the continuation of the movement would be decided during the general meetings held this Wednesday afternoon.
- The situation at gas stations is gradually improving. This morning of October 19, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Minister for Energy Transition, announced an improvement. 22.8% of petrol stations are in partial or total shortage: a decrease compared to this week’s figures.
- Despite an agreement between management and two other unions, the CGT does not want to break camp. Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the organization, still asks for a greater gesture from TotalEnergies to raise salaries.
- For his part, Olivier Véran, spokesman for the government, announced this Wednesday that “there will be as many requisitions as necessary”.
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10:20 – François Bayrou judges the blocking of refineries “deeply disturbing”
Invited this morning on Franceinter, the mayor of Pau was annoyed by the situation “We are talking about a few dozen strikers in each refinery, who are seizing the general concern about the energy problem to find assets for their particular situation. ” He called the blocking of refineries “deeply disturbing”.
10:10 – Improvement of the situation at gas stations
The Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher was the guest of the Franceinfo morning show and shared the percentage of petrol stations in short supply last night, i.e. 22.8%. A figure down since the beginning of the week. The minister announced that certain regions were more strongly affected than others, such as Ile-de-France, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
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Metropolitan France has seven refineries on its territory. Currently, five of them, all belonging to Total, are at a standstill due to a strike action linked to demands for wage negotiations (see below). The list of sites on strike:
Total Energies Group:
- Gonfreville-l’Orcher (Seine-Maritime);
- La Mede (Bouches-du-Rhône);
- Feyzin (Rhone);
- Donges (Loire-Atlantique).
- Flanders (North)
The strike in the Esso-ExxonMobil group has been lifted. The Port-Jérôme (Seine-Maritime) and Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) refineries are working again. Note that the Lavéra refinery (Bouches-du-Rhône) was not affected by the strike. It indeed belongs to a third company, Petroineos, a group of the British Ineos and the Chinese Petrochina.
The strikers, who are employees working for refineries and fuel of TotalEnergies, are asking for increases in their remuneration. “The requests have existed since March 2022. We have already been told that we were going to open negotiations, first before the summer and then, in September. For the oil branch, it was decided to apply on January 1 We have a huge loss of purchasing power, like everyone else, for 2022. What we are asking for is already a catch-up for 2022 and an increase for 2023″, declared Emmanuel Lépine on RMC on Monday October 10. . “If we start negotiations, it will be on the basis of our demands: we are asking for a 10% increase in wages, applied on January 1 and retroactive to the year 2022” abounds in The Parisian Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator at TotalEnergies.
TotalEnergies has however already indicated that the negotiations “will make it possible to define how employees will be able to benefit, before the end of the year, from the exceptional results generated by TotalEnergies, while also taking into account inflation for the year 2022”. In the first half of this year, TotalEnergies, which operates about one in three service stations in France, earned $10.6 billion in profit. It should also be noted that a majority agreement was signed between the unions and the management of TotalEnergies on the revaluation of wages.
It took two weeks of strikes in the refineries of the TotalEnergies group for the first negotiations to be organised. The discussions did not bear fruit immediately and a second round of negotiations was necessary to find an agreement between the company and some unions. The CFDT and the CFE-CGT, which are in the majority and together represent 56% of Total employees, accepted a compromise on the night of October 13 to 14. Before ratifying the agreement which provides for a 7% salary increase from November 2022 and a bonus of 3,000 to 6,000 euros, the unions must speak with their members to find out if they agree to sign the agreement.
The CGT for its part refused the agreement proposed by Total, judging the proposals “largely insufficient”. Note that the CGT demands the revaluation of wages up to 10%. The compromise is therefore a “masquerade” according to the CGT general secretary of the TotalEnergies Normandy platform, Alexis Antonioli, who adds that “these unions who would come to sign an agreement at a discount, it will not change anything in the mobilization, it will not change anything to the spirit and determination of the strikers”.
Legally, the government has the right to requisition. To do this, the executive relies on two decrees. At the national level, this is article 2141-3 of the defense code, which provides that the government has “the right to subject, to control and distribution, energy resources, raw materials, products manufacturers and products necessary for the supply and, for this purpose, to impose on natural or legal persons in their property, the essential constraints”. At the local level, article 2215-3 of the general code of local authorities indicates that the prefect may, “in emergency, when the observed or foreseeable breach of good order, health, tranquility and public security so requires”, requisition “any property or service, require any person necessary for the operation of this service” until “the breach of public order has ended or the conditions for its continuation are assured”.
The requisition of refineries and depots is a radical solution which is not to the liking of the striking employees, but the government justifies it by the need not to “let the country be blocked”. On this subject, the head of the oil branch of the CGT, Emmanuel Lépine, indicated yesterday on RMC be “aware of the negative impact”. And to add: “The cause of this situation is the immobility of the management of the oil companies, ExxonMobil and Total. The employees no longer have confidence in the promises. negotiations and proposals, before ending the strike.”
It is likely that shortages at service stations will last several more days, experts in logistics specific to the distribution of fuel consider that a return to normal is unlikely before October 24, 2022. The Minister of Transport indicated the October 17 that a return to normal should not be expected before the week of October 24.
Where to find gasoline in France?
Linternaute offers you a map listing all the service stations with fuel, in order to have a view of the delivery points. This map, built on reliable public data, is updated in real time.
To influence the negotiations and public opinion, the management of TotalEnergies posted a press release to make public the levels of remuneration of employees. According to Total, refinery operators – workers, supervisors only – receive 5,000 euros per month, including profit-sharing and participation, on average over the year 2022. Figures disputed by CGT TotalEnergies trade unionists: with BFMTV, these advance salary levels around 2100 euros gross “on hiring”. On this sensitive issue, Germinal Lancelin, Secretary General of CGT ExxonMobil Chimie, gave details on BFMTV: “The hiring salary of an operator is 2120 euros gross. To this can be added bonuses if the person makes “shifts”. 4300 or 4500 euros, it is the salary of a department head at the end of his career or a shift supervisor with 20 years of seniority”.
TotalEnergies also indicates that while the group’s profits have been significant in recent months, employees have been rewarded for their contribution. “These same employees benefited in 2022 from an average profit-sharing in the company’s results of 9,108 euros, with a minimum amount of 7,250 euros” can we read in the press release from TotalEnergies.