Paris, (AFP) - The strike continues in oil refineries in France , Thursday, in "Esso-ExxonMobil", whose workers were first targeted by an order to resume work, while "Total-Energies" announced, as the strikers are still preventing the transfer of fuel to gas stations that suffer from Scarce, for an Exceptional Bonus in December.

In this strike atmosphere, Total-Energies announced an "extraordinary" bonus to be distributed to "all its employees in the world" equal to one month's salary in December, with a cap on "large salaries".

The strikers in this group on Wednesday night vehemently rejected a proposal by management to rescind the ban on dawn deliveries as a precondition for starting wage negotiations.

"It's a broad categorical refusal," Thierry Deversen of the General Trade Union (CGT) and a member of the trade union committee of Total-Energies Europe told AFP after a night meeting at the group's headquarters. He added that the employees "do not want to negotiate this requirement."

He continued, "We wasted a long time and we are now negotiating without conditions," considering that the group's "request" to "release the product," that is, fuel, is synonymous with a "soft" order to resume work.

For its part, the group confirmed to France Press "the negative result of the night's discussions."

The dialogue had apparently resumed earlier in the day, with the administration's agreement to receive the trade union committee.

Until then, the administration was calling, in a precondition, to lift the obstacles to transporting fuel to receive the second union in it.

The conflict entered a new phase on Wednesday with the implementation of the threat to issue orders to return to workplaces waved by the government and currently includes four employees of the fuel depot of the Exxon Mobil refinery in Port Jerome / Notre Dame de Gravenchon in the Seine-Maritime region (northwest).

These employees are required to re-inject the fuel.

One of the leaders of the General Labor Union, Felipe Martinez, who came to support the Exxon Mobil employees, protested against the "scandalous decision" and announced an appeal against it Thursday.

The administration of the Seine-Maritime region said on Wednesday evening that "the pumping has begun and the fuel has reached the pipeline designated to supply the Paris region."

Will it get better? President Emmanuel Macron expected, in an interview with "France 2" channel, on Wednesday evening, that the situation will return to normal regarding the distribution of fuel "during the next week."

Currently, the shortage continues to anger motorists.

And at 17:00 on Wednesday, 30.8 percent of gas stations lacked one or more of their types, compared to 31.3 percent on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Energy Transition.

However, this ratio is worse in the north, in the Paris region, and in the centre.

For their part, employers expressed this week their concern about the repercussions of this strike on the country's economic life.

Everywhere motorists talk about long queues at gas stations.

"I spent an hour and a half looking for a diesel station (...) on my day off," said Albertine Moret, a nurse in Clichy-la-Garenne, on the outskirts of Paris. "I have to do the same thing in two days," she added.

"I feel terrified," she continued.

The strike includes six of France's seven refineries - four for Total-Energies and two for ExxonMobil. Only the Lavera refinery (Petronius Group) is not included in the strike.

In addition, the "Total-Energies" depots in Lamede (southeast) and the Flanders depots that feed the north of the country are all closed.

In the Esso Group, he signed an agreement with two major unions, but not with the General Confederation of Labor. So the strike continues in Msfatha.

A fourth union, the "Force Ouvriere" of refining employees at Total-Energies, joined the strike.

In this group, the strike has been ongoing since September 27, and includes the Normandy refinery (northwest), the Flanders depot, the Lamed Biorefinery, the Vizin refinery (central east) and the Dong refinery (west).

The reason for the dispute is wages. The General Trade Union, which launched the strike on September 27 at Total-Energies, is demanding a 10 percent increase in 2022, compared to 3.5 percent granted at the beginning of the year, in order to compensate for inflation and take advantage of the group's exceptional profits.