LyondellBasell’s French Refinery Workers Vote to Prolong Strike
October 07, 2011, 10:31 AM EDTBy Tara Patel
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Workers at LyondellBasell Industries NV’s Berre refinery in southern France voted today to prolong a strike until Oct. 10, according to trade unions.
LyondellBasell is preparing to shut the plant for good after failing to find a buyer, resulting in the loss of 370 jobs. The closure is the third announced in France in 18 months as refiners seek to cut capacity because of a drop in profits and declining demand for fuels.
Workers went on strike after Lyondell announced the closure on Sept. 27 and halted processing units, which haven’t been restarted. The plant is one of four near Marseille.
Talks between management and unions will begin in Paris, Jacques Dupoux, a spokesman for labor organizations at the site, which include the CGT, said in an e-mailed statement. Local politicians and unions are holding talks Oct. 10 on the future of petrochemicals in the region, according to Dupoux.
Separately, Total SA, Europe’s biggest refiner, will announce an overhaul Oct. 10 that will combine crude-processing and petrochemicals operations within the company and create a separate fuel marketing division. The CGT union, the biggest among refinery workers, has pledged to “mobilize” workers when the plan is made public.
--Editors: Alex Devine, Amanda Jordan
To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net
