French refinery workers remained on strike on Thursday as the hardline CGT union defies calls by President Emmanuel Macron to stop blocking fuel deliveries and “let the country work,” reports Bloomberg.
The decision to prolong the weeks-long dispute came after staff representatives and oil major TotalEnergies SE failed to find common ground at a meeting on Wednesday, and the government forced a few employees back to work to reopen deliveries from a key fuel depot in Normandy owned by Exxon Mobil Corp.
It also decided to unblock a TotalEnergies depot in northern France on Thursday.
The walkouts, which have affected most of the country’s refineries, have left almost a third of the country’s gas stations with supply shortfalls, according to government data.
Motorists already dealing with surging inflation have faced lengthy lines to fill up, piling pressure on officials to act.