French refiners are preparing to take part in the eighth round of strike against the regulation to raise the retirement age, which has been criticized by all trade and professional unions in France.
And 4 oil refineries out of 6 working in France announced their readiness to stop working on the day of the eighth round of the strike on March 20 (2023), according to the Argos Media website, which specializes in energy markets.
And the French government approved a new regulation to raise the retirement age in the country, using a controversial article in the constitution that allows the government to pass regulations without a vote in Parliament.
Union calls for a strike in all sectors of the state, including French refineries, have not subsided since the government approved this regulation on January 19, 2023, according to what was monitored by the specialized energy platform.
Raising the contract to 64 years
The government’s regulation provides for a gradual increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, which has angered the professional and labor unions in France, and prompted them to organize a series of escalating partial strikes to pressure the government to back down.
The trade unions have organized 7 partial strikes so far, the last of which was on March 16, and the eighth round of the strike is scheduled for March 20, amid calls to make it a comprehensive strike for all sectors of the state.
French refinery workers participated in more than one round during the past strikes, as among those affected by the raising of the retirement age to 64 years, according to what was seen by the specialized energy platform.
Parties of no confidence
Refineries are preparing to enter the eighth wave of the strike, in conjunction with a shortage of crude oil transferred to them due to the strike of port workers, according to the specialized energy platform.
The road, port and railway sectors participated in the seventh wave of the strike on March 16, 2023, which caused widespread disruption to transport across France.
Parliamentary parties also submitted a motion of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Elizabeth Born, in an attempt to pressure Macron and his government to reverse the retirement age regulation.
4 strike strainers
The French Total Energy refinery workers are preparing to participate in a strike on Monday, March 20, 2023, which will disrupt the refining of 219,000 barrels per day.
They will also be joined by the workers of the Gonverville refinery, which has a refining capacity of 246,000 barrels per day, in addition to the workers of the British-Chinese Petronius refinery, which has a refining capacity of 210,000 barrels per day.
They will also be joined by workers at the Port Jerome refinery, which has a refining capacity of 207,000 barrels per day, according to the specialized energy platform.
The Donges refinery in western France is still operating at the present time, but its workers voted to extend their strike for a week until March 24, 2023, which is likely to announce their participation in the new strike in the coming days.
The French refineries that are participating in the strike refuse to load or ship any oil derivatives outside the facilities, as part of an attempt to pressure the company’s leadership and the government to back down from the suspicious retirement age regulation.
4 million barrels stuck
The French station Foss Lavera on the Mediterranean is impatiently awaiting the termination of their strike by refinery workers, as it is filled with oil reserves amounting to 4.3 million barrels, of which 3.2 million barrels come from Libya.
A small shipment of 200,000 barrels of Italian crude has also been waiting for a signal to be unloaded at the port of Fos Lavera since February 25, 2023, due to the ongoing strikes of refinery workers.
The Voss refinery is still running, but at very low refining rates, with striking employees letting derivatives out to fill storage tanks, unlike other refineries.
Oil shipments of 700,000 barrels coming from the United States have been waiting for a similar signal to unload at the North Atlantic port of Le Havre since March 11, 2023.
There is also a million barrels of Nigerian crude oil near the port that has not been delivered since early March 2023, in addition to a Libyan shipment amounting to 600,000 barrels, according to the specialized energy platform.
More than one previous French government tried to approach the retirement age, to reduce the costs of retirement programs, but the labor unions were thwarting them, which is likely to back down the government in one way or another in the coming weeks as the strike enters its eighth wave and the economic damage to the country worsens with the continued disruption of facilities month after month.
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