Union rejects TotalEnergies offer as petrol stations in France run dry

The strikes that have hit French oil refineries and storage sites will continue on Monday, with workers at TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and ExxonMobil’s XOM.N Esso France sticking to their positions as petrol stations run dry throughout the country.

The strikes have added pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government, which is already facing discontent from the public over inflation and higher household bills.

“It will be continued across the board,” said a CGT official at TotalEnergies, a day after the French company offered to bring forward wage talks in an effort to end a dispute that has been dragging on for about two weeks.

The union on Monday said that the TotalEnergies offer to engage in wage talks this month on condition that strikes end was a form of “blackmail”.

Another CGT official said the walkouts would also continue at two Esso France refineries ahead of talks scheduled for Monday.

The supply situation in France deteriorated over the weekend and almost a third of the country’s petrol stations had problems getting deliveries of at least one fuel product on average on Sunday.

Website mon-essence.fr said that more than 2,000 service stations have run dry, citing data reported by roughly 3,000 users since Thursday.

The situation is particularly strained in the north and the region around Paris, where queues at functioning stations caused traffic jams spreading over several kilometres, according to media reports.