PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2022) Esso-ExxonMobil expects production at two of its oil refineries, where strike action was lifted on Thursday and Friday, to be restored within two to three weeks, Le Figaro daily reports.
The return "to a normal operating situation" at the two refineries will take "two to three weeks", the newspaper said on Friday, quoting a company press release.
According to Le Figaro, Esso-ExxonMobil specified that its sales volumes in September fell by 25% compared to August.
Strikes by energy sector workers, including employees of Esso-ExxonMobil (Exxon's French business), have been ongoing in France for three weeks. Trade unions are demanding a 10% pay increase as well as the indexation of 2022 wages to match the current record-breaking inflation.
There has been a shortage of fuel at every third gas station in France amid the strikes.
The French government has forcibly returned the personnel of oil storage facilities to work in the city of Dunkirk and in the commune of Port-Jerome-sur-Seine in northern France.
The leading French unions announced on Thursday that they were going to hold a nationwide strike on October 18, demanding higher wages and protesting against the government's interference in the social movement of oil employees and encroachment on the right to strike.
On Friday, two unions agreed to a 7% pay rise and called off their strikes, but the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union vowed to continue strike action.
