PARIS- On Monday, France’s hardline CGT trade union voted to extend blockade of the outbound fuel deliveries from the Total Grandpuits refinery not too far from Paris till the 6th of January. This comes following the French nationwide protests against the planned pensions reform.
The CGT oil branch spokesman said that the workers did not vote in favour of a production halt and that production would continue but at a reduced rate.
A spokesman from Total said that following the CGT vote outcome on Monday, it was using other sites to supply the Paris region service stations.
50 out of the 3,500 service stations in France faced a shortage of fuel as of Monday morning and this compared to the 100 outlets affected prior to Christmas.
The Grandpuits refinery operated by Total in France is one of its four crude oil refineries and produces 102,000 barrels per day. The other three refineries operated in a normal fashion on Monday.
According to Total, in order to avoid filling up the storage capacity, pipelines transport some of the fuel out of Grandpuits too.
French President Emmanuel Macron proposed an overhaul of the retirement system in the country and the CGT union has been at the forefront of the industrial action. Train services have been crippled for a period of three weeks too.
Next week, as the government negotiations resume, unions intend to ramp up the action. CGT spokesman said that the oil division plans major protests between 7th to 10th January.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.
