*
Government requisitioning staff at Esso France depot
*
CGT union says will challenge requisition in court
*
France not ruling out staff requisitions at Total Dunkirk
*
Government says strike 'unbearable' for consumers
(Adds comments from Macron)
By Caroline Pailliez and Forrest Crellin
PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) – France on Wednesday ordered some staff at an Exxon Mobil fuel depot back to work and warned a TotalEnergies depot could be next, risking a wider conflict with trade unions as it battles to secure petrol supplies after weeks of strikes.
The French energy ministry said it was requisitioning some staff at the Gravenchon-Port Jerome depot run by Exxon's Esso France business, where the hardline CGT remains on strike despite a pay deal with other unions.
President Emmanuel Macron said further requisitioning proceedings will take place if the labour dispute is not being solved through dialogue "within the next hours", adding one in three petrol stations in the country still lacked sufficient supplies.
Both the CGT and company bosses share the responsibility to end the standoff, he said.
Trade unions are demanding wage increases to help workers cope with spiralling inflation as Europe contends with one of its worst cost-of-living crises in decades.
While the right to strike is enshrined in the French constitution, the government can requisition a minimum number of staff needed to sustain a service in certain circumstances.
The CGT said it would challenge the requisitions in court once it had received the notifications. A government attempt in 2010 to requisition refinery staff was suspended by a judge.
Government spokesman Olivier Veran said the situation had become "unbearable" and the requisitions should lead to a "very marked improvement … in the coming days".
He warned that the government could also requisition staff at the TotalEnergies depot in Dunkirk, northern France, where the CGT is also on strike.
Veran said requisitions would only take place when there was no dialogue between unions and management.
Government sources told Reuters that it only needs to order about 15 to 20 people back to work in order to get the depots running again, which can be achieved by requisitioning non-striking workers and providing protection from pickets.
At the Gravenchon-Port Jerome depot in northern France, staff walkouts would continue, CGT union representative Thierry Defresne told Reuters after a meeting with management.
"Management has asked us to at least allow the resumption of deliveries of available fuel products, even if the refineries remain halted," he said, adding that the CGT would now discuss next steps with workers.
TotalEnergies said it was in talks with other unions and declined further comment.
SPREAD TO NUCLEAR?
The CGT has called for support from workers in other sectors and there were signs of that happening after an FNME union official said some staff at utility EDF's nuclear plants had resumed a strike over wages, delaying maintenance work on at least five reactors, including the Bugey facility.
FNME representative Viginie Neumayer said it had sent a message of support to strikers at TotalEnergies and Exxon.
"The threat of requisition, which is above all a sign of government feverishness, has never demonstrated its effectiveness in getting out of this conflict," Neumayer said.
The refinery and fuel depot stoppages are among the longest since a cost-of-living crisis sparked labour unrest in Europe.
Strike action and unplanned maintenance have taken more than 60% of France's refining capacity offline, causing long queues at French service stations and rationing in some regions.
ExxonMobil has agreed a deal with two leading unions for a 6.5% salary hike in 2023, but the CGT, which is demanding a 10% pay rise, has rejected the agreement. TotalEnergies remains deadlocked with unions.
"For now it does not look like management is willing to make proposals that could lead to an end of our strike," CGT's Defresne told Reuters.
Sylvain Bersinger, an economist at consultancy Asteres, said the economic impact should be limited this quarter.
"Such a loss of activity due to strikes is generally made up for in the following quarter," he added. (Reporting by Caroline Pailliez, Forrest Crellin, Tassilo Hummel, Benoit Van Overstaeten, Leigh Thomas and Michel Rose; Writing by Dominique Vidalon and Geert De Clercq; Editing by Mark Potter, Alexander Smith and Aurora Ellis)
Related Quotes
A former teacher's assistant in Ohio has pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct after sleeping with a student and begging the student not tell anyone.
The self-described free-speech absolutist has said he would prefer to stay out of politics but has also used Twitter to weigh in.
It turns out that rolling a truck down a hill is not actually proof that your electric vehicle (EV) works.
Stocks ended another volatile week lower with the S&P 500 declining 1.6%.
(Bloomberg) — Most Read from BloombergNATO-China Tension Over Ukraine Flares at Conference in IcelandSecret Service Minimized Threats Before Jan. 6, Records ShowRolex Prices to Drop Further as Supply Surges: Morgan StanleyUK financial markets will get a fresh opportunity to pass judgment on Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic program on Monday without the Bank of England around to offset any turmoil.Rarely has a developed economy’s political fortune been so caught up in market gyrations. Trader
Panel continues to discusses recent lawsuits updates and investigation details regarding Donald Trump and the January 6th capitol riot.
Amid worsening legal perils, former president posts 2012 story concerning ‘more than 1,500 boxes of classified documents’ going missing at records centre
Orlando International Airport Transportation Security Administration Officer Iliana Pitre saved a man’s life while on break.
On a May evening in Georgia, three friends gathered around a pool and a hot tub to enjoy a few drinks and play music. By morning, only one was alive.
VALENTYNA ROMANENKO – SUNDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2022, 13:20 Russian troops are trying to form a group on the southern front, but they have enormous problems with the supply of weapons and equipment. Source:Nataliia Humeniuk, Head of the united coordinating press centre of the defence forces of the south of Ukraine, on air of the national joint 24/7 newscast on 16 October Quote: "The situation on the front line itself is quite tense, as the enemy is trying to gather up all available forces in a so-calle
Former president claims Evangelicals are more appreciative of his support for the country, where he claims he could ‘easily’ be prime minister
British academics have collaborated on thousands of research papers with Chinese military scientists according to a government-funded report that universities sought to suppress.
Will Wilkerson, then an executive at former president Donald Trump's start-up Trump Media & Technology Group, was at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., coffee shop with company co-founder Andy Litinsky last October when Trump called Litinsky with a question: Would he give up some of his shares to Trump's wife, Melania? Trump Media, the owner of the fledgling social network Truth Social, had just been boosted by a huge merger agreement and a flood of investment that had made the stake worth millions of dol
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX does not digest leaks related to the Starlink service provided to Ukraine at war against Russia.
In Donald Trump's assessment, Mike Pence “committed political suicide" on Jan. 6, 2021. The man who was booed last year at a conservative conference is now an in-demand draw for Republican candidates, including some who spent their primaries obsessively courting Trump’s endorsement, in part by parroting his election lies. Pence has traveled the country, holding events and raising millions for candidates and Republican groups, including signing fundraising solicitations for party committees.
The Biden administration launched a beta version of its student loan forgiveness application on Friday that borrowers can use to apply for their loan forgiveness. “We’re accepting applications to help us refine our processes ahead of the official form launch. If you submit an application, it will be processed, and you won’t need to resubmit,”…
A recent analysis points to more than $30 billion of stimulus spending by states. That’s good for the economy, but also fuel for inflation.
Latest developments in former president’s ongoing legal woes
(Bloomberg) — Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Most Read from BloombergNATO-China Tension Over Ukraine Flares at Conference in IcelandSecret Service Minimized Threats Before Jan. 6, Records ShowRolex Prices to Drop Further as Supply Surges: Morgan StanleyIn the all-hands-on-deck economics of the pandemic, governments and their central banks shared the same goals. Now they’re starting to pull in different directions. The tug-of war h
The Justice Department has launched an internal investigation of the Bureau of Prisons after a federal judge issued a blistering court order saying the agency "should be deeply ashamed" for what he called "its demonstrated contempt for the safety and dignity of the human lives in its care." A ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. heaps scorn upon the agency's handling of the case of Frederick Mervin Bardell, 54, who died last year of colon cancer. The judge said the Bureau of