French oil refinery strikes spread as fuel shortages worsen

Bloomberg

Every oil refinery in France was suffering disruptions or outright shutdowns amid a worsening labor dispute that already caused fuel shortages across the country.
All eight of the nation’s refineries were affected by strikes as workers at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Gravenchon plant in northern France began taking steps to shut down, following similar action by staff at Total SA facilities across the country, said Emmanuel Lepine, a CGT union representative.
No units at the plant had been halted as of 11:10 a.m. local time and fuel deliveries were continuing as normal, said Catherine Brun, an Exxon Mobil spokeswoman.
The Feyzin refinery, near Lyon, and the Normandy plant have already halted production, while later this week the Grandpuits facility near Paris will come to a complete halt and Donges, close to Nantes, will shut down several units, according to a Total spokesman.
While the Fos-sur-Mer refinery in southern France was still operating, deliveries from the plant were suspended because of the strikes, said Brun.
Workers are protesting against President Francois Hollande’s plans to change labor laws to reduce overtime pay and make it easier to fire staff in some cases. While the government has watered down its proposals since first floating them in February, unions are calling for them to be scrapped altogether.
The new law will not be withdrawn and police forces are intervening to remove protesters from blocked sites, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Europe 1 radio on Tuesday.
Some 188 gas stations were shut down and 513 faced partial shortages, Total said. About 800 oil trucks were being mobilized to deliver fuel Tuesday, compared with 350 on a normal day, the company said. Months after they began, protests against Hollande’s government have become increasingly aggressive. The offices of his Socialist Party have been vandalized in several cities across the country, most recently on Monday.