Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Despite Threats of Arrest, Refinery Workers in France Refuse to Break Strike

As energy strikes continue, France is faced with a kerosene shortage that’s creating an urgent situation at the country’s airports. With capitalist profits on the line, the government has attempted to force Normandy refinery workers back to work through an anti-strike legal weapon called requisitions. In their first victory, refinery workers forced the police to withdraw in an incredible demonstration of solidarity.

Nathan Erderof

March 24, 2023
Facebook Twitter Share
Photo: BFMTV

In the midst of the energy strike in France, the fuel shortages affecting the southern and western regions of the country are creating a dire situation at the country’s airports. On Wednesday evening, the French government decided to intervene at the largest refinery in France, Total Normandy. Under threat of imprisonment and excessive fines, the state attempted to force the strikers back to work to ship kerosene to the airports. These anti-strike measures called “requisitions” are a legal weapon used by the French state to stifle collective worker action and save capitalist profits.

Faced with this offensive on Wednesday evening, the refiners at CGT Total Normandy called all the union members of Le Havre to a rally in front of the refinery. More than three hundred strikers from all the industrial zones of the region (dockers, port workers, SNCF, Chevron, and others) as well as students stayed out all night to prevent the requisitioned workers from returning to the site and to stave off the police.

“These requisitions are about to fall through. The challenge for them today is to recover the 73,000 m3 of kerosene we have in our tanks. The Paris airports are a shitshow — they only have two days of kerosene in pure stock left. They went into downgrade mode. They canceled 30 percent of the flights. They are asking the medium-haulers to work double-duty. They are in a critical situation,” said Alexis Antonioli, secretary general of CGT Total Normandy from the refinery on Wednesday night.

“We shouldn’t have any illusions about this,” he continued. “The government will do anything to break the strike. They’ll do anything to get kerosene, whether it’s from us, the CIM, or Exxon. They are going to try to recover the whole storage. They are completely panicking — the strikes are continuing, the mobilization is strengthening, and the momentum among the youth is growing.”

On site, the demonstration of solidarity with the workers allowed the unions to thwart the maneuvers of management, who tried to requisition workers who had just returned to the picket without giving them any advanced warning. To prevent this, the strikers decided to disrupt the shift changes. 

Antonioli announced, “If they want us to come back, they have to drop the requisitions. We’ll monitor the facilities, but that’s all we’ll dot. We won’t ship any product. Faced with these attacks, we’re taking take a harsher tone and we’ll refuse to do any shift changeovers.” 

At the same time, workers at a petrochemical plant located opposite the rig voted to shut down facilities at two of the units and called for the shutdown of other facilities.

Management tried to negotiate with the strikers on Wednesday night, proposing to lift the requisitions if they agreed to end the strike, but the workers refused outright. After nearly 24 hours on the picket line, workers called a rally after the demonstration in Le Havre to continue organizing solidarity.

On the picket line Thursday, Alexis Antonioli explained, “We’ve had no police interventions  nor requisitions because we’ve stopped them. But if law enforcement does intervene, it will be similar to what happened in Fos-sur-Mer. Only solidarity will prevent the requisitions!”

In the face of repeated attacks by the government, which is diving headlong into authoritarianism, the refinery workers of Total Normandy and their supporters are leading the way. The trade union leadership must follow their lead and urgently position themselves to denounce these requisitions and concretely organize the response, putting all means possible toward building solidarity and organizing a general strike.

First published in French on March 23 on Révolution Permanente

Translation by Stacey Bear

Facebook Twitter Share

Europe

Fact Check: Did German Leftists Try to Bomb West Berlin’s Jewish Community Center in 1969?

Answer: No. The bombing was undertaken by West Germany’s domestic secret service, originally founded by Nazis.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 29, 2023
Tombstones in Germany defaced with Swasticas.

“Stop Thief!” The German State Attacks Migrants to Distract from Its Own Antisemitism

German politicians claim that antisemitism is an “imported problem.” Even a cursory look at the facts, however, shows that anti-Jewish hatred is not caused by pro-Palestinian protests. No, the source is German capitalism.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 21, 2023

Competing Rallies at Berlin’s Free University

On successive Fridays, there was a pro-Palestinian and a pro-Israeli rally at the Free University. One was dominated by international students, including many Jews and Palestinians, calling for solidarity — the other was dominated by German politicians spewing racism. Guess which was which.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 13, 2023

In Berlin, Jews and Palestinians Are Demonstrating Together

This Saturday, Jewish and Palestinian groups are organizing a demonstration against the war.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 4, 2023

MOST RECENT

Protesters in NYC for Palestinian liberation.

Uniting Workers for Palestine Is a Fight for the Future of Labor

The struggle for Palestine shows the potential for the rank and file to push unions to break with imperialism and to build a new, combative, and internationalist unionism.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

November 27, 2023
Haverford College student Kinnan Abdalhamid and Brown University students Tahseen Ahmed and Hisham Awartani, Palestinian college students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont.

Haverford Faculty for Justice in Palestine Releases Statement Supporting Pro-Palestinian Students

Haverford College Faculty for Justice in Palestine have published a statement following the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont.

A Pause in Genocide Is Not Enough: Jewish Voice for Peace Shuts Down the Manhattan Bridge

Amid a pause in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace is showing that the movement for Palestine will continue. Civil disobedience must lead to broad protests which bring all sectors of the movement together.

Samuel Karlin

November 26, 2023
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed wearing Keffiyes. They were shot in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The Three Palestinians Shot in Burlington Are Victims of Rising Islamophobia

Three Palestinian men were shot in Burlington Vermont while walking down the street. The campaign against Palestine has dehumanized all Palestinians and left them more vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Enid Brain

November 26, 2023