Strikes at oil refineries of TotalEnergies began in different regions of France, demonstrators oppose raising the retirement age.
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“A number of sectors have responded to the (union) CGT’s call to go on strike this Thursday and Friday,” local media wrote.
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According to information, 80% of the employees of France’s largest refinery in Normandy took to the pickets. The demonstrations were also joined by half of the workers at the refinery in the commune of Donge.
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Together with them, all the employees of the fuel storage facility in the north of the country and 30% of the workers serving the Grandpuis fuel storage facility came out to protest.
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At the same time, TotalEnergies notes that no shortage of fuel is expected, as there are sufficient reserves at the gas station to continue serving customers.
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Employees of some nuclear power plants, ports and docks, whom the union called for demonstrations, joined the strike against raising the retirement age. Because of this, there may be a decrease in electricity production on Thursday and Friday, but this will not lead to power outages, the authors of the article concluded.
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TotalEnergies (formerly Total) is one of the largest energy companies in the world and the second largest supplier of LNG to the global market. The company employs about 100,000 people in more than 130 countries.
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In early January, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born presented a draft of the controversial pension reform, which the government plans to adopt in 2023. According to her, the authorities will begin to raise the retirement age in the country by three months a year from September 1 this year, so by 2030 it will reach 64 years.
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More than 200 rallies were held across the country on January 19 at the call of the eight leading French trade unions (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires, FSU). The largest actions took place in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille and Nantes. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than a million people took part in them. 38 demonstrators were detained.
