Paris, (Asian independent) French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has ordered local authorities to requisition workers needed to ensure petrol supply to service stations across the country as France struggles with strikes at oil refineries operated by TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil.
“A salary disagreement does not justify blocking the country,” Borne told the National Assembly. “To refuse to discuss is to make the French the victims of an absence of dialogue.”
According to Borne, 30 per cent of the country’s gas stations have already run out of at least one type of fuel, with the Greater Paris region one of the worst affected, Xinhua news agency reported.
Over the weekend, TotalEnergies and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) agreed to start negotiations but no agreement was reached.
The strikers’ actions have led to a decrease in fuel deliveries, provoking fears of fuel shortage and long hours of waiting. School bus transportation was also affected by the strikes.
French minister for energy transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher on Tuesday warned of the manipulated prices in several service stations.
“Fuel supply tensions do not justify the soaring prices at several service stations. We will not allow prices to be artificially inflated,” she said on her social media account.
The strikers demand a raise in salary to compensate for the high inflation that France is experiencing.