Strikes at French Oil Refineries Continue as Fuel Shortage Frustrates Motorists

By Staff, Agencies

French motorists have been made to wait in long queues across the country to refuel their vehicles as petrol pumps run dry amid ongoing strikes at the country’s oil refineries and storage sites.

The leading French trade union, General Confederation of Labor [CGT], which represents labor forces at TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil's Esso France, was quoted as saying on Monday that the strikes at the companies' oil refineries and storage sites will continue.

Hundreds of gas stations around France and particularly in the Paris region were reportedly running out of fuel on Monday after almost a third of the petrol stations had problems getting deliveries of fuel.

The strike, announced by French tanker drivers responsible for delivering fuel, gas, and chemical products on Friday, is over low wages and harsh working conditions amid a cost of living crisis in France.

The CGT union is demanding bosses open talks over wages and working conditions and has threatened to do what it takes to get them around the negotiating table.

The union has blockaded some fuel depots around the country and in the greater Paris region of Ile-de-France it is controlling how many fuel tankers can leave.

French petrol industry chiefs from UFIP have downplayed worries over fuel shortages, saying that only around a hundred stations, out of a total of 11,000, were completely out of fuel.

These figures are in line with the CGT, which is claiming that more than 180 stations have run out of gas.

However, going by the petrol availability app mon-essence.fr, which bases its data on information from its users, the situation is a bit direr than what industry officials claim.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Esso France told Reuters that a meeting will be held on Monday with the participation of representatives from all four labor unions representing workers at the company.

The oil strikes have mounted added pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron whose government is already facing discontent among the public over inflation and higher cost of living.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Paris on Sunday to protest soaring inflation and high cost of living, demanding that France pull out completely from membership in the US-led NATO military alliance.

Similar protests have been held across the European Union against soaring inflation and the rising cost of living caused by sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Protesters across Europe demand their governments properly address the pressure of soaring cost of living for the masses and downgrading public living standards.

Since the beginning of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in late February, Western countries have slapped waves of sanctions on Russia, disrupting the global energy and food market.

Disruption in supply chains has led to higher fuel and food prices across the EU, driving inflation to record levels and causing the cost of living to soar.

The European Union leaders accuse the Kremlin of wielding energy as a weapon, cutting gas supplies in retaliation for sanctions.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in some of the EU’s major capital cities in recent weeks, calling on their respective governments to lift Russian sanctions.

Protesters gathered in the German capital Berlin last week to protest soaring energy and commodity prices and denounced their government's stance on the war in Ukraine.

"People can't afford to heat their homes and, what's more, the situation is still worsening," one of the protesters was quoted as saying.

The protesters also called on the US-led NATO coalition to immediately stop supplying arms to Ukraine and to work to resolve the simmering crisis through diplomacy.

Thousands of people in the UK also held "Enough is Enough" rallies to protest against the rising cost of living and soaring inflation in the country.

"People can't continue to live like this," said a protester at one of the rallies in London.

He said protesters want the government to increase workers' pay to match the soaring inflation, unprecedented in 40 years.

"I have colleagues at work who have worked out their weekly money and they can't afford to actually live once they pay their fuel bills and once they pay all the other rising costs," he said.