Workers at a total of six oil refineries in France have been on strike for around three weeks. In view of the massive profits of the corporations and rising inflation, they are demanding a wage increase of 10% backdated to the 1st of January this year.
The strike is causing fuel shortages - for private individuals as well as businesses. Among other things, this means that many people can no longer drive, and food supplies are limited. But so far the side of the labour buyers has shown no understanding and so the workers see no reason to end their strike, instead some unions decided to continue the strike. In France, where unions have so far had ery little connection with the state and labour disputes are on a very different scale than in Germany, for example, President Macron condemned the strikes and declared "blocking is not a method of negotiation", stepping back from his first statement in which he said that the state would not interfere in the negotiations. As the strikers were not impressed by this, the government is now planning to force the strikers to work - a massive attack on the right to strike. According to the threat, those who do not comply will have to pay a fine of 10,000 euros. Unsuccessful so far, strikers at a refinery in Normandy have already made it clear that they will not comply and no doubt more refinery workers will join them.
