France asks TotalEnergies to raise wages as strike continues

The chaos in France due to the strike at the refineries and gasoline stations does not stop.

While citizens face another day of difficulties in acquiring fuel, representatives of the General Labor Confederation (CGT) union organization voted this Thursday, October 13, in favor of continuing the protest, which has already reduced hydrocarbon production by more than 60 %.

Given this scenario, the Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, urged the French company TotalEnergies to increase the wages of its workers, a claim with which they began their work stoppage more than a week ago.

Le Maire assured that the energy company has “the possibility and, therefore, the obligation to increase wages.”

“If you know the profits they made, the companies that have the capacity have a duty to raise wages and Total is one of them,” the official said, adding that it is too late to start talks with the CGT.

A position that was supported by the Minister of Energy, Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

“Total needs to increase wages,” said the official.

His statements come at a time when the government also insists on doing everything possible to force employees to resume their duties. Some of them have been on strike since last September 27.

“If necessary, we will take measures to unblock the supplies available at the Dunkerque warehouse (…) But I hope that things will evolve today between the CGT and Total,” the minister said.

On Wednesday, October 12, President Emmanuel Macron promised that the situation at gas stations would soon return to “normal.”

“The question everyone is asking is: ‘when are we going to get back to normal?’ That will be in the course of the next week”, affirmed the president.

Macron assured that the difficult situation has been created by “the social conflicts in the Exxon and TotalEnergies companies, which generated large profits” due to the high losses of oil and gasoline in the midst of the world energy crisis that was aggravated by the Russian war in Ukraine.

The Government orders some workers to return to their functions

After warning that it would use emergency powers to order essential workers back to work, under penalty of fines or jail time, the Macron administration began forcing some fuel station workers at Esso, the French subsidiary of ExxonMobil. to return to their work.

On Wednesday, the government instructed police to issue orders for a small number of refinery and warehouse employees to return to work.

A union representative told Reuters on Thursday that five striking employees at TotalEnergies’ storage depot in Dunkirk, a port city in northern France, had been ordered back to work.

Shortly after, the authorities confirmed the notifications to resume functions and a source in the prime minister’s office indicated that the measure came into force at 2:00 pm local time (1200 GMT).

“The government continues to count on the resumption of dialogue between the company’s management and the workers’ representatives in the next few hours,” the source said.

However, in a statement issued in the last few hours, TotalEnergies emphasized that the conditions to hold salary negotiations with all the unions are not in place while the various blockades continue.

What does TotalEnergies offer and what do the workers demand to end the strike?

So far, the company has announced that it would make a one-time bonus payment to its workforce around the world, but employees have other demands.

The payment would be equivalent to one month’s salary, which would be disbursed next December. Likewise, the company assures that it communicated to the unions that it is ready to consider a salary increase in 2023 of 6%, equivalent to the effects of inflation in 2022.

For its part, the CGT indicated that it requested the start of negotiations “without conditions” and demands an immediate salary increase of 10%.

The union explains that the increase must be made because the rise in energy prices generated huge profits that allowed the company to pay dividends estimated at 8,000 million euros and an additional special profit to investors.

Like other major oil companies, TotalEnergies’ revenue soared as energy prices surged in the wake of Russia’s ordered war against Ukraine and Western economic sanctions on Moscow.

Amidst this juncture that coincides with significant inflation, TotalEnergies’ extraordinary profits have caused anger and prompted many to call for a windfall profits tax.

The strike ends at one of the main refineries in France

Amid the chaos, French residents received a notice of relief, after employees at the ExxonMobil refinery in Fos-sur-Mer, in the southeast and one of the largest in the country, voted Thursday in favor of ending the strike.

The workers reached this decision after the CFDT union at the refinery reached a wage increase agreement with management.

The pact, however, was not accepted by the CGT.

TotalEnergies says it is keeping the union groups open to new talks, after initial discussions on Wednesday failed.

Strikes at oil depots and refineries have reduced gasoline production in French territory by more than 60% and left one in three gas stations short of supplying fuel.

The protest has spread this week to other energy companies, including nuclear power group EDF.PA.

With Reuters, AFP and EFE