Pak Sahafat – The French government is planning to expand the refinery workers’ strike to the entire country and even turn it into a riot at the same time as radical labor unions and political opponents join to start a wider movement that may even threaten the reform plans of President Emmanuel Macron.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report on Friday from Reuters news agency; the strikes of refinery workers after nearly three weeks and the end of gasoline stocks at the fuel distribution stations, have led to decisions for protesting industrial actions in other sectors and have created a good opportunity for the opponents of the government.
Some nuclear power plant workers, inspired by their colleagues in the refineries, have started a periodic strike to request a wage increase, which has further reduced the amount of nuclear power production in this country.
According to this report, the CFDT trade union composed of four French unions have called for a strike and protest on Tuesday to raise wages and protect their right to stop working.
With the fuel shortage in France beginning to damage businesses and disrupting the daily lives of citizens, the government called a small number of refinery workers to work in the past few days in a rare move so that the supply of fuel to the stations would not be interrupted. Although polls show that two-thirds of French citizens support the call-out of refinery workers, this action is seen as crossing the red line of labor unions, who consider it a violation of their constitutional rights to hold a strike.
At the same time, the government, which lost its ruling majority in the parliament in the June elections, is trying to pass the 2023 budget bill. Leftist, far-right representatives and even some of Macron’s moderate allies have approved an amendment to tax the windfall profits of large companies, which, along with other approvals, threatens the government’s business promotion program and has no choice but to apply the law.
Probably, the opposition parties will also react with a vote of no confidence, which, although it will probably be rejected, will have a damaging effect on the government, which is trying to approve the reform plan in the pension law.
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According to Pak Sahafat News Agency from France Info, a number of important trade unions in France announced that they will hold a demonstration starting October 18th as part of a nationwide strike. These trade unions protested the efforts of the French government to force the striking employees of the energy sector to return to their jobs.
Part of this statement reads: We call on workers and staff members to demonstrate in support of demands for higher wages and the right to organize strikes.
This demonstration will be held in response to what is said to be the government’s intervention in the civil movement of oil industry workers and interference with the right of trade unions to strike.
This strike will be held at the invitation of the General Labor Confederation, the Workers Union, the Federation of Labor Unions and the Soliders Trade Union. It is also expected to be joined by French transport unions, including the national railway company SNCF, and French youth organizations.
Three-fourths of French Total Energy company employees started their three-day strike on September 27 at the invitation of labor unions and especially the General Confederation of Labor (CGT). The demand of Total Energy employees is a 10% salary increase.
In this strike, the employees of Total Company have blocked the refineries from leaving and supplying fuel from the refineries and the petrochemical sector continued the strike.
The first round of negotiations between the company and the leaders of the labor unions ended yesterday without reaching an agreement.