Union officials from the CGT and FO at the ExxonMobil petrochemical site in Port-Jérôme (Seine-Maritime), near Le Havre, have been taken to court by management, which is demanding the lifting of the blockades disrupting the refinery’s activity, we learned on Wednesday from consistent sources. A strike action was launched on May 25 on the site after the announcement of a plan to eliminate 677 jobs by ExxonMobil. The company announced on April 11 a reduction in its activities in Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, in the commune of Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon, as well as a proposed sale, via its subsidiary Esso France, of several sites at Rhône Énergies.
According to Germinal Lancelin, CGT delegate of the refinery, the management rejects the demands of the unions and the movement has gradually hardened, with the establishment in recent days by strikers of roadblocks which block the passage of “all trucks”. Since the start of the week, the police have intervened twice to clear the blocked accesses but the strikers immediately put the roadblocks back in place, he told AFP. “All the chemistry is at a standstill”, Germinal Lancelin told AFP. He deplored the fact that the CGT and FO coordinators of the movement were named “attacked, as individuals,” by the management of ExxonMobil which summoned them for summary proceedings before the Le Havre judicial court Thursday morning for “demand the lifting of the blockades”.
For the CGT central union delegate Christophe Aubert, one of the two officials concerned, “management has hardened relations” with this assignment. In response, the unions are calling for a strike by all staff at the Port-Jérôme site on Thursday, with a rally in front of the court in the morning then in front of the site in the afternoon.
ExxonMobil management confirmed these assignments to AFP, explaining that they wanted “deploy all means necessary to guarantee the safety of the site, people and the environment” but also for “avoid shutting down the refinery.” “For this, we asked the courts to rule on the legality of this blocking action” which has prevented the entry of necessary trucks since June 19 “continuing activities”car “The supply of chemicals is essential to running a refinery.” “We are facing a blocking situation caused by a handful of strikers who are paralyzing an entire site”estimated management.
