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Fuel shortageThe strike continues in France, demonstrations against the high cost of living
The social movement for wages in the refineries of Total continues. A demonstration against the high cost of living is to take place this Sunday in Paris.
Nearly one in three service stations (27.3%) lacked at least one product on Saturday. Here in Paris.
AFP
A strike for wages in the refineries and depots of TotalEnergies continues in France, while a demonstration against the high cost of living is announced Sunday in Paris at the call of the left opposition. The consequences of the strike, which began nearly three weeks ago, remain significant for many sectors of activity affected by the fuel shortage.
Nearly one in three service stations (27.3%) lacked at least one product on Saturday, according to a figure communicated on BFMTV by the Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. In the Paris region, the situation was more tense with 39.9% of service stations in difficulty. Despite a wage agreement with two majority unions, the strike had been renewed by the CGT union until Tuesday for the Normandy refinery located near Le Havre (west), the largest in France, and until Wednesday for that of Donges (Loire-Atlantique, west).
The CGT intends to hold until Tuesday, a day of interprofessional “mobilization and strike” to which other unions have also called (FO, Solidaires and the FSU).
30,000 demonstrators expected
The strike started on September 26 at Esso-ExxonMobil was however lifted on Thursday and Friday at the group’s only two refineries in France, Fos-sur-Mer near Marseille (south) and Gravenchon in Normandy (west). The march against “high cost of living and climate inaction” scheduled for Sunday in Paris is called by the alliance of left-wing parties Nupes. 30,000 demonstrators are expected, according to the police who fear excesses linked to “the arrival of violent people from the ultra left, ultra yellow vests who would like to disrupt the demonstration”.
TotalEnergies, where the strike has been going on since September 27, signed an agreement on wage increases overnight from Thursday to Friday with two majority unions, the CFDT and the CFE-CGC, providing for wage increases of 7% from November and 3000 to 6000 euros in premiums. The CGT claims 10% corresponding to inflation plus the sharing of profits earned by the oil company. In the second quarter of 2022, TotalEnergies reaped huge profits: the French group more than doubled its net profit, to 5.7 billion dollars, against 2.2 billion in the same quarter in 2021.
(AFP)