(Adds comment from Industry Minister in fifth paragraph.)
By Tara Patel and Ladka Bauerova
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA unions called for a refinery strike to spread to all French plants and said fuel shortages could be imminent.
“The strike will be intensified and extended to all refineries,” Charles Foulard, a representative of the Confederation Generale du Travail union, said late yesterday after talks with Total management on ending the six-day walkout broke down without an agreement. He warned the labor disruption will create fuel shortages in France this week.
He advised motorists to fill up their cars now.
Workers at Total’s six French oil-processing plants and six of its 31 storage depots have been on strike since Feb. 16 to protest against the permanent shutdown of refining at its Flanders plant in northern France. The walkout by workers last week brought the company’s refineries to minimum output, and they said they were moving toward shutting down all crude- processing operations at the plants. Total confirmed this process has started.
“Today, there is no problem with supplies,” French Industry Minister Christian Estrosi told Europe1 radio today. “The government will take measures so France won’t be paralyzed.”
Retain Jobs
The company reiterated yesterday it will not close or sell any of its other five French refineries and said all current employees at the Flanders plant would retain jobs with the company.
“Total won’t close or sell any more refineries in France,” Francois Viaud, Total’s human resources director, said after the negotiations with the unions ended. Foulard called the talks “deadlocked.”
Total has offered to hold roundtable discussions on the future of refining in France as well as the situation at Flanders. The company is sticking to a scheduled meeting with unions on Flanders March 29.
The CGT and CFDT unions yesterday called on the company to bring forward that meeting in order to clarify the situation for employees sooner.
“We are very angry. It’s unacceptable to have to wait until March 29,” CFDT representative Francois Pellegrina said. “The Flanders employees are suffering.”
Taken Hostage
Total should hold the meeting in the “coming days” so that French consumers won’t be “taken hostage,” Estrosi said on Europe1 radio today.
The unions yesterday circulated a Total document outlining the company’s offer of roundtable discussions, job guarantees and meetings to detail investment plans at five refineries, excluding Flanders.
Estrosi said the government will follow the negotiations “hour by hour.” The minister reiterated there won’t be any job losses for refinery workers and said Total has guaranteed that outside the refinery site it will do everything to maintain industrial activity at the port of Dunkirk so all subcontractors of the refinery can remain employed.
Total Pledge
Total previously pledged to create a training center at Flanders, allowing it to keep two-thirds of the 370 refinery jobs, and said that other employees will be offered positions elsewhere. The company is also mulling investing in a liquefied natural gas terminal at the nearby Dunkirk port with Electricite de France SA, potentially creating jobs for some of Flanders’ 400 subcontractors.
Total owns six of France’s 12 refineries and supplies about half of the country’s fuel needs.
There’s no immediate risk of fuel shortages, the Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres, or UFIP, said on Feb. 19. France has stockpiles at 160 depots to last for 10 to 20 days of “normal” consumer demand, a spokesman for UFIP said.
Exxon Mobil Corp.’s French refineries may be hit by a strike this week. The CGT on Feb. 19 called for a work stoppage on Feb. 23 at the company’s oil-processing operations.
--Editors: Will Kennedy,
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