The Gonfreville refinery and the Feyzin depot are the last two places where the protests started on Sept. 27 are still continuing.
At the end of a general assembly on Thursday, France's General Confederation of Labor (CGT) announced that the strike at the TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville will continue until Oct. 27.
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“We sent a letter to management to come to the negotiating table but we haven't received a response,” CGT activist Ludovic Desplanches said, commenting that TotalEnergies is due to announce its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 27.
“Do they want the movement to rot? That's the question," he added, pointing out that workers don't have uncompromising attitudes.
The Gonfreville refinery and the Feyzin depot are the last two places where the protests started on Sept. 27 are still continuing. This has caused major fuel supply difficulties throughout France.
France has erupted in massive protests.
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) October 18, 2022
Striking workers in education and transport marched alongside fuel refinery workers, who have been on strike for weeks to demand pay increases amid record-high inflation.
The gov't has used police and a requisition order to crack down. pic.twitter.com/WEIEmLJCCI
On Wednesday, the workers of Flandres in Mardyck and La Mede in Bouches-du-Rhone decided to return to work after three weeks of continuous strike. But that did not happen in Gronfreville, where the workers "will carry the fight to the end."
“The press said we would be the irreducible Normans. They would like to reduce us to lowering our heads and bending our backs... but it will not be like that... Workers are upright and proud,” CGT delegate Pierre-Yves Hauguel said.
Currently, Gonfreville refines about 12 million tons of crude per year, which represents 12 percent of the French refining capacity.
#France | Workers go on strike to demand better wages. pic.twitter.com/bAZaQdzfAD
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 18, 2022