French Primer Minister Announces Requisition Order to Ease Gasoline Supply Shortage
Esso gas station in the 9th arrondissement of Lyon, France (Wikimedia Commons).
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French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on October 11 that she had ordered prefects to requisition fuel workers of ExxonMobil's French branch Esso. Borne suggested that the French government was considering a similar requisition of gasoline depot workers of TotalEnergies to ease pressure on France’s gasoline supply. The refinery strikes led by fuel workers in hard-left unions resulted in a gasoline supply shortage across the country, which have caused inconveniences for the French population.
Due to the energy price inflation caused by the war in Ukraine, the oil companies TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil—France’s two largest suppliers of gasoline—have gained enormous profits. Worker unions Force Ouvriere (FO) and General Confederation of Labor (CGT) began strikes at one depot and five of TotalEnergies’ refineries on September 27 to seek wage increases.
The strikes broke out because workers were dissatisfied with their low salaries, which only constitute a small share of soaring profits earned by the two oil companies. Esso France finally provided these two unions a deal that promises to give a €3000bonus and raise workers’ wages by 6.5 percent in 2023—an overall 10.7 percent salary increase and €4000 bonuses from the start of 2022 to the end of 2023. However, knowing the assistance from Esso France, CGT continued its strike and rejected the deal.
Because 70% of refinery workers have participated in these strikes, France’s total oil output has dropped by 60%. The strike affected Northern France and Paris the most. France’s petrol stations are similarly running short on labor, and thirty percent of gas stations have suffered a gasoline shortage, according to Elisabeth Borne's announcement. The refinery strikes also damaged France’s power grid and triggered protests by teachers and railroad workers.
The gasoline shortage has become so widespread that drivers waiting in long lines for gasoline and gas stations being temporarily closed while awaiting gasoline deliveries have become a common sight. Alexandre Leonardi, a citizen waiting next to the gas station in Vincennes, said, “I’ve been here for an hour… I expected it to be like this. Most of the gas stations I went past were closed.”
The closed gas stations posed an enormous challenge to French citizens. "Some people cannot go to work, others can’t take their children to school, go shopping, or some are even unable to access (hospital) treatment,” French government spokesman Olivan Veran said. The strikes negatively impacted many firms, schools, and medical institutions, potentially worsening France’s economy, people’s quality of life, safety, and health. In addition, the strike exposes growing social inequality in France, as well as the discontent of the working class.
Confronted with disruption in gasoline supply and vast labor shortages, Borne announced the decision to order oil workers to return to work. The exact details of carrying out these requisitions remain unclear, but French President Emmanuel Macron promised that gas stations would return to normal next week. Although government officials point out that they used measures such as strategic stock release and expansion of gasoline imports to alleviate the shortage, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stated that the only solution is to “unlock (the situation) without delay through negotiation.”