TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil have agreed pay deals with some of their striking French oil workers, but the powerful CGT trade union has not signed with either company, which means industrial action is dragging on at five of the country's six refineries.
CGT members are convening at TotalEnergies' downstream sites across France after rejecting the company's wage offer. The CGT said there were six hours of direct negotiations with TotalEnergies yesterday, ending in the early hours of this morning.
The head of the union Philippe Martinez said the firm's proposal for a 5pc wage rise was designed to split the CGT from other unions. The CGT wants a deal closer to 10pc, which Martinez describes as "inflation, plus a share of the profits" made by the firm this year. "Right now, 5pc is well short of 10pc," he said. "It is only because the strike movement has been strong that TotalEnergies have agreed to discuss wage rises at all."
TotalEnergies' offer has been accepted by two other unions, the CFDT and CFE, though. And both of those have also agreed deals with ExxonMobil.
The strikes have been running at TotalEnergies' French sites for two weeks. The firm's 246,900 b/d Gonfreville, 109,300 b/d Feyzin and 219,000 b/d Donges refineries have all halted operations. Donges workers only came out on strike this week when French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne enacted legislation to force staff back to work to reopen depots.
Walkouts at ExxonMobil's 133,000 b/d Fos and 236,000 b/d Port Jerome refineries have been going on slightly longer. The CGT said today that its members at Fos and Port Jerome remain on strike. The union told Argus that workers had been requisitioned from yesterday and this was continuing today. The CGT's ExxonMobil branch had presented a legal challenge to the requisitions to a local tribunal in Rouen, but this was rejected.
The Force Ouvriere union, whose members had taken industrial action alongside the CGT at ExxonMobil sites, said its workers will convene later today to formally end their industrial action and decide next steps. But "nothing is finished, on the contrary, it is just starting for the management", the union said.
The refinery strikes and depot blockades have had a significant impact on fuel supply in France, with a large number of service stations running out of diesel and gasoline.
