France Orders Fuel Depot Strikers back to Work, Union Vows Challenge  

By Staff, Agencies

France on Wednesday ordered some staff at an Exxon Mobil fuel depot back to work and warned a TotalEnergies depot could be next, risking a wider conflict with trade unions as it battles to secure petrol supplies after weeks of strikes. 

The French energy ministry said it was requisitioning some staff at the Gravenchon-Port Jerome depot run by Exxon's [XOM.N] Esso France business, where the hardline CGT remains on strike despite a pay deal with other unions. 

President Emmanuel Macron said further requisitioning proceedings will take place if the labor dispute is not being solved through dialogue "within the next hours", adding one in three petrol stations in the country still lacked sufficient supplies. 

Both the CGT and company bosses share the responsibility to end the standoff, he said. 

Trade unions are demanding wage increases to help workers cope with spiraling inflation as Europe contends with one of its worst cost-of-living crises in decades. 

The CGT said it would challenge the requisitions in court once it had received the notifications. A government attempt in 2010 to requisition refinery staff was suspended by a judge. 

Government spokesman Olivier Veran said the situation had become "unbearable" and the requisitions should lead to a "very marked improvement ... in the coming days".