French union to take legal action against forcing employees to work in refineries

PARIS (AA) - The strike at French refineries continued Thursday despite a government decision to force some employees back to work.

Philippe Martinez, head of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), one of the five major trade unions in France, condemned the government's coercive measures as "scandalous" and announced he would file an injunction against the decision on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron, during an interview with France 2 television on Wednesday, promised a return to normality "in the course of the coming week."

The CGT, which went on strike at TotalEnergies on Sept. 27, is demanding a 10% wage increase for 2022, up from the 3.5% it received earlier this year, to compensate for inflation and benefit from the group's extraordinary profits.

The French government on Wednesday said it will force some employees of the ExxonMobile refinery in the Gravenchon-Port-Jerome in Normandy to return to work.

However, the labor union at ExxonMobile decided to continue their strike demanding better pay and working conditions.

French law allows, in the event of a strike that seriously affects the continuity of the public service or the needs of the population, that certain employees may be forced to work.

On Wednesday, 30.8% of service stations in France reported shortages of one or more fuels, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The figures were reportedly higher in the Hauts-de-France, Ile-de-France and Centre-Val-de-Loire regions.