2023-12-11 19:00:27
A spontaneous strike, without notice, broke out last weekend at TotalEnergies in the port of Antwerp, the socialist union ABVV/FGTB and the company confirmed Monday evening.
Total has several factories around Antwerp. A new two-year collective labor agreement was recently negotiated at the refinery. Workers in the petrochemical branch located a little further away were presented with similar conditions during negotiations concerning them. “And that’s how they were presented,” says Levi Sollie of the ABVV. “But the bonuses for workers in the chemicals sector are lower than those in the refinery.”
“When it became clear that conditions were not equal, workers began spontaneous action. Total then requisitioned certain workers with the help of the police and through the provincial governor,” explains the trade unionist again.
According to the unions, there is a lack of clarity around the usefulness of these requisitions. They could have been done not for safety reasons, but to maintain production, which is not allowed. In factories using dangerous substances, a minimum number of workers must always be present, but some requisitioned workers claim to have noticed that there were already enough staff.
Total confirms that negotiations were interrupted after the outbreak of a spontaneous strike. “For security reasons, this action was not possible,” the company said. “Some workers had to stay longer and we also had to requisition some in order to safely shut down the factory.”
There is also disagreement over security at the entrance to the site. This work is currently carried out by internal staff, but management would like to use a private company.
A social mediator has been appointed. A conciliation meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.
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