PARIS (Reuters) -France’s CGT union, at the core of a weeks-long strike at oil major TotalEnergies, walked away from wage talks on Thursday night, slashing hopes for an end to a standoff that has disrupted everyday life as petrol stations run dry.
“We have seen a masquerade… the offers on the table are clearly insufficient”, CGT representative Alexis Antonioli told journalists after his union left the talks.
A few hours later, the more moderate CFDT and CFE-CGC unions representing a majority of workers struck a deal with TotalEnergies which, if approved by union members, would mean a 7% pay rise and a bonus payment.
The CGT previously said it wanted a 10% wage rise, citing inflation and windfall profits made by the company resulting from a global energy crisis.
“This doesn’t change anything for the mindset of the striking workers”, said Antonioli, when asked if a wage deal without the CGT similar to the one reached recently at ExxonMobil’s Esso France unit could slow the movement.
Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher on Friday said it was urgently needed, saying that TotalEnergies bosses and CGT officials must pursue the talks despite the setback.
“The company is in good shape and shareholders have been rewarded for a long time,” Philippe Martines, the head of the CGT union, told franceinfo radio.
The CGT is seeking to use the refinery workers’ protests as the starting point for nationwide industrial action across sectors which could hamper parts of the country’s infrastructure this autumn.
Strikes are already underway at some of EDF’s nuclear reactors, and union branches including in the railway and automotive sectors announced they would take part in a wider strike planned for next Tuesday.
TotalEnergies on Thursday offered to hold wage talks despite the ongoing strikes, less than a day after President Emmanuel Macron’s government told the group, which has earned bumper profits as energy prices have soared, to pay its workers more.
