French ministers urge oil giant to raise wages as strikes continue

theguardian.com:

France has told the oil giant TotalEnergies it has a duty to raise wages, as the group’s two-week standoff with striking workers drags on, disrupting petrol supplies and causing a crisis for the government.

Oil depot and refinery strikes at the French group and the US group ExxonMobil have reduced France’s petrol output by more than 60% in recent days, with one in three petrol stations struggling for fuel. Industrial action spread this week to other energy companies including the nuclear power group EDF, where some workers resumed their sporadic industrial action of recent months.

Although the picket line was lifted at a key ExxonMobil refinery at Fos-sur-Mer in the south of France on Thursday afternoon after a pay deal was struck, the leftwing CGT trade union at TotalEnergies voted to continue to blockade five sites across the country.

At the heart of the standoff is anger at the cost of living crisis and rising inflation, as the trade union demands that workers should have a share of oil companies’ high profits.

The government is under fire from political critics for failing to grasp the seriousness of the strike action for higher salaries, which began last month. TotalEnergies’ bumper profits had caused widespread anger, leading to calls for the group to face a windfall tax. The government has consistently refused, taking the line that companies would redistribute their gains among workers voluntarily.

The CGT trade union is seeking an immediate 10% pay rise to help staff struggling with the cost of living, and after a surge in energy prices led to huge profits that allowed the company to pay out an estimated €8bn in dividends and an additional special dividend to investors. Like other major oil companies, TotalEnergies’