After the passage in force in the Assembly, the coup de force with the workers. Industry Minister Roland Lescure suggested on Saturday that the government could make requisitions in case of shutdown of refineries by striking employees against the pension reform, like the requisitions of garbage collectors in Paris. At least two refineries, that of PetroIneos in Lavéra (Bouches-du-Rhône) and the Normandy refinery of TotalEnergies in Gonfreville-l'Orcher (Manche), could be shut down from this weekend and at the latest Monday, according to the CGT.

Until now, the strikers had been content to block fuel shipments, but refineries continued to produce. Asked about a risk of fuel shortage, the minister, invited by France Info, replied: "We showed in the autumn that we knew how to take our responsibilities again, we will take them", in reference to the requisitions then taken to unblock oil sites during strikes for wages. He stressed that such measures were "being deployed" with Parisian garbage collectors.

"Today, most petrol stations in France and Navarra have petrol"

"We are not going to leave 65 million French men and women and a country together blocked by a few dozen individuals. So, the strike, (...) it is obviously an inalienable right, but the blocking of a few individuals from a country (...), it is not possible, "added the minister. Assuring that "today, most service stations in France and Navarre have gasoline", Roland Lescure was critical of the leader of the CGT of Bouches-du-Rhône Olivier Mateu whom he has, without naming him, called a "pyromaniac firefighter", who "tries to create panic, anxiety so that people go get gasoline and that suddenly we find ourselves potentially without".



The trade unionist, candidate to succeed Philippe Martinez at the head of the CGT, had advised Monday to "comrades who get up in the morning to go to work" to "refuel, because it will not last forever", after the entry into strike of the oil terminals of Fos-sur-Mer and Lavéra.

  • Pension reform 2023
  • Society
  • TotalEnergies
  • CGT
  • Fuels
  • Strike