Workers are set to bring the TotalEnergies refinery in the Port of Antwerp to a standstill on 18 May, the socialist trade union ABVV announced on Thursday. The announcement comes after negotiations over bonuses between trade unions and management collapsed.
In early April, the unions filed a strike notice and planned to walk out at the end of the month, after negotiations over pensions and other issues proved disappointing. The planned four-day strike was suspended a few weeks later, after a provisional agreement was reached.
That changed on Thursday, when ABVV announced talks between the parties have collapsed. "We met again on Wednesday, but nothing fundamental has changed," said Levi Sollie of ABVV. "There is no support for an agreement."
Because a refinery cannot simply be switched off, the unions require a ten-day lead time. The effective shutdown can therefore not begin before 18 May.
Specifically, workers at the refinery in Antwerp were angered by reports that TotalEnergies had bought up crude oil on a large scale ahead of the maritime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and sold it at enormous profits. The unions want workers to share in those gains through a bonus.
"But management says that's impossible," said Sollie. "They say the profit was not generated in Antwerp and that a bonus has to be decided at group level, and they do not have that mandate."
Tom Claerbout, spokesperson for TotalEnergies in Belgium, said he regrets the situation. In a response initially given to Gazet van Antwerpen and reiterated to Belga on Thursday, he pointed to concessions already made by management.
"Significant changes have been made to the previous proposal," he said, citing greater flexibility around overtime and working hours for maintenance staff. The unions, however, consider these insufficient.
TotalEnergies posted a 51 per cent jump in net profit in the first quarter of this year. A few weeks ago, French energy giant also raised its dividend for shareholders by 5.9 per cent, to 0.90 euros per share - the strongest dividend growth among the major oil companies, according to the company.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS
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