French government ready to 'intervene' to break fuel depot strike

The French government has called for the immediate lifting of fuel depot blockage and has threatened to intervenue to break the deadlock. This as workers from TotalEnergies and Esso-Exxon Mobil pursue their strike action for better salaries.

Drivers line up as they wait to buy gas in a station, in Lille, northern France, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. AP - Michel Spingler

"We are doing everything we can to put an end to this situation," government spokesman Olivier Véran told RTL radio on Tuesday morning, the day after an emergency meeting held by the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.

If the situation does not improve "very quickly", the government could "unblock, reopen access to depot centers and refineries, and then requisition personnel to be able to allow the situation to normalise," Veran said.

On Monday evening, 29.4 percent of petrol stations around France were in difficulty, the minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher noted.

She also called on French citizens not to stock up on fuel to "avoid making the situation worse", adding that the filling up of jerrycans in service stations was forbidden.

A union representing nursing staff has called for the establishment of a priority access for fuel stations upon presentation of their professional card.

"Without emergency measures, the continuity of home care for many French people will be threatened, with the consequence of an increase in hospitalisations," the National Federation of Nurses (FNI) said.

'Excessive, abnormal'

Despite an agreement made for a salary increase signed by some unions on Monday, workers at TotalEnergies and two of the Exxon refineries remained on strike on Tuesday.

"The strike action was renewed this morning at 6 a.m., because the agreement does not correspond to the demands of the striking employees who are asking for purchasing power", justified Christophe Aubert, central CGT union representative, to AFP.

According to him, the improvement of the proposal formulated by the management consists essentially of a bonus.

Véran said that the call by CGT union to maintain the stop work action was "excessive and abnormal".

He estimated that a return to normal in the most affected regions would take a few days, and assured that this will be the case "within 15 days", in time for the next school holidays.

Véran was also quick to condemn those who put up their prices as "strike profiteers".

Finding a balance

Clément Beaune, the minister in charge of Transport agreed that the government had no choice but to be firm in its reaction, insisting that "there is no taboo, all options are on the table".

The government is also negotiating with TotalEnergies to extend a rebate recently put in place by the group, he told RMC radio on Tuesday.

The reduction of 20 cents per litre granted by the energy company was supposed to end on 1 November.

Meanwhile, the State rebate is set to drop from 30 to 10 centimes on the same date, Beaune indicated.

"We have to find a balance between purchasing power - this is obviously the priority. But we must not lose sight of the ecological transition, all of this paid for by the taxpayer," he said.

For his part, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, called for the resumption of negotiations with the refinery workers.

"It is necessary that an agreement be found in the coming hours," he told France Info.

"Our fellow citizens cannot be the collateral victims of a conflict between a trade union and a private company," he insisted.