KARIM JAAFAR / AFP
Patrick Pouyanné revealed his salary this Tuesday, October 18 on Twitter. (Illustrative photo: the CEO of the French energy group TotalEnergies, in Doha, September 24, 2022.)
BOOMERANG EFFECT – Turn your thumbs seven times before tweeting. This is probably what should have been done Patrick Pouyanne before revealing, this Tuesday, October 18, his fabulous salary of more than 500,000 euros per month. The compensation of the CEO of TotalÉnergies is the spark that sparked a fire of protest among employees of the company, who contest the 52% increase in its emoluments in 2021.
In the vein of movement #balancetonsalairewhich flourishes on Twitter, Patrick Pouyanné therefore wanted to play the card of transparency by revealing the evolution of his salary between 2017 and 2021. “ Here is the real evolution of my remuneration since 2017 – it is constant except for 2020 because I voluntarily cut my salary and my variable part has normally fallen with the results of #TotalEnergies”, he justifies himself on the social network, saying to himself ” tiredness “ by the controversy aimed at him.
I’m tired of this ‘raising me 52%’ accusation – here’s the real evolution of my earnings since… https://t.co/ZcKzwzhYDm
— Patrick Pouyanné (@PPouyanne)
Strong reactions on the left
The manager pays his salary ” raised “but justifies himself by explaining that it is not he who sets his remuneration “but the #TotalEnergies board that sets it and the shareholders that approve it”. Moreover, he assures us that he is comparable to his ” peers of the CAC40 and much lower than that of the other European and American majors”.
Explanations that did not at all convince left-wing politicians, who reacted with a lot of sarcasm to this tweet. “All my support to you who, in 2020, had to survive with €3,918,263. Or 2,545 minimum wage. So little when you achieve the feat of not paying any corporate tax in France,” cheerfully mocked the rebellious member of the Somme. “We all shed a tear for you, Patrick”quipped Fabien Roussel, boss of the PCF.
Dear @PPouyanne, all my support to you who, in 2020, had to survive with €3,918,263. Or 2545 minimum wage. So little qu… https://t.co/PyGAhZxOiX
— François Ruffin (@Francois_Ruffin)
We all shed a tear for you, Patrick. https://t.co/s3usjmjcqx
— Fabien Roussel (@Fabien_Roussel)
« Miskine »exclaimed Danielle Obono, an expression which, in slang, means ” Oh the poor thing “. “I think that he, on the other hand, he really, really did not understand the problem”, continues the rebellious deputy, protesting that “meanwhile, the workers of the 2nd line, thanks to whom we survived the height of the crisis #Covidearned €996”.
A bit of perspective: at the “lowest”, at €326,000, Patrick’s salary “because he is worth it” Pouyan… https://t.co/v39Oczo2nF
— Deputy Obono (@Deputy_Obono)
The first secretary of the Socialist Party preferred to make a short and scathing message: “We will have to come back down to earth. » While Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI group in the National Assembly, reacted with derision by posting a GIF of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. PCF spokesman Ian Brossat preferred the GIF of the chick Caliméro, accompanied by a mocking message: “On the verge of queuing at the Restos du Cœur…”
https://t.co/O39XozncuX https://t.co/RafviQnFnx
— Mathilde Panot (@MathildePanot)
Close to queuing at the Restos du Cœur… https://t.co/dSUzShcT8I https://t.co/t61Ko0pgmm
— Ian Brossat (@IanBrossat)
The ecologist deputy Sandrine Rousseau was more incisive: “It pays well to say to be ecocidal and profiteer of war”, she also wrote on Twitter.
Faced with the rebellion in his company, Patrick Pouyanné had tried to calm things down in early October by promising his employees a “just reward on their payslip before the end of the year”. The strikers are asking for a salary increase of 10% for the year 2022, management has proposed 7%, an offer accepted by the majority unions but not by the CGT.
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