France is bracing for more work and travel disruption Tuesday as the CGT and other labor unions ask workers across industries to join a walkout by some refinery employees to demand higher wages as inflation dents purchasing power.
RATP, the operator of the Paris transit system, said services of its express RER trains and buses will be affected, while Eurostar, the train operator linking Paris to London, has canceled two journeys Monday afternoon, and another four on Tuesday. Other high-speed rail services will be mildly affected and the CGT union wants port workers to stop for several hours Tuesday.
“The labor action is launched,” Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT union, said on France Inter radio Monday. “Employees will decide tomorrow if it’s a one-off, or if another action is needed.”
The labor strife at refineries, which has led to fuel shortages in many parts of France, is undermining an economy that’s already grappling with surging energy costs as Russia cuts natural gas deliveries to Europe. To make matters worse, some employees at Electricite de France SA, the country’s biggest power producer, have also walked off the job, forcing it to start reducing output and delaying some maintenance on nuclear reactors in recent days.
Government officials have become increasingly strident in their calls for striking refinery workers to return to work as fuel shortages persist. On Monday, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the time for negotiations had passed and that “a handful of strikers” should not impose their will on the majority.
About 30% of filling stations in France were short of at least one fuel on Sunday, government data showed. That compares with 27% on Saturday. Shortages of gasoline will continue for at least a week even once the refinery strike ends, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said on Monday on France Inter radio.
The Energy Transition Ministry ordered workers to unblock a large fuel deport near Lyon on Monday. It also renewed its requisition of employees to ensure that another large depot in the north of the country remains open.
The continued walkout at TotalEnergies’ sites contrasts with the return to work at two refineries owned by Exxon Mobil Corp. Exxon said Friday the refineries could return to full operation within two to three weeks.
CGT last week rejected TotalEnergies’ offer for a 7% increase in 2023 wages, after demanding a 10% raise. The French oil major called for all strikes to end as two other unions, which together represent a majority of workers, agreed to the deal.
In an interview with the French daily Les Echos on Monday, President Emmanuel Macron said it wasn’t surprising that oil companies were under pressure to share more of their profits with workers. “They’ve distributed a lot to their shareholders and their managers,” he told the newspaper. “Everyone is looking at these companies.”
But he added that it wasn’t the case in other sectors. “There are other industries that aren’t doing well, and for whom it’s not the right time to distribute to anyone.”
Inflation in excess of 6% and record profits at oil companies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have driven support for industrial action as well as raising economic anxiety levels in France. A poll released on Sunday by Ifop for the Journal du Dimanche showed that fighting inflation was the top policy concern for the French.
