French Oil Workers to Strike Over Pension Reform in January - Reports
France's General Confederation of Labor (CGT) urged oil workers to go on a series of strikes and "block refineries" in January in protest against the planned pension reform, French media reported on Thursday
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th January, 2023) France's General Confederation of Labor (CGT) urged oil workers to go on a series of strikes and "block refineries" in January in protest against the planned pension reform, French media reported on Thursday.
On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne unveiled a draft of a controversial pension reform that the government plans to adopt in 2023. According to the draft, the French authorities will gradually raise the retirement age in the country by three months a year from September 1, 2023. By 2030, the retirement age will reach 64 years.
Due to this fact, the CGT-Petrole urged employees of the country's top oil company TotalEnergies to start a series of strikes against the reform with a 24-hour nationwide protest on January 19, the France Bleu broadcaster reported, citing union head Eric Sellini.
In addition, the CGT called on oil workers to go on a 48-hour strike on January 26 and a 72-hour strike starting February 6.
New strikes could lead to a fuel crisis similar to the one France faced in October 2022, when one in three petrol stations in the country were left without fuel due to the protests at refineries of Total Energies and ExxonMobil.
Earlier in the week, France's leading trade unions announced nationwide strikes against the pension reform from January 19.
In September 2022, over 250,000 people across France participated in demonstrations against the pension reform, while demanding a rise in the minimum wage.