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14 July, 2005ICEM News Release No. 51/1999
New oil-to-chemicals giant TotalFina-Elf must "put jobs back at the centre of its industrial plans," French chemical and energy workers' union FCE-CFDT insists.
Agreement on a merger between the Franco-Belgian group TotalFina and French-based Elf-Aquitaine was announced yesterday. The new group will be the world's fourth-biggest oil concern, with some 150,000 employees and a market capitalisation of 95.48 billion Euro.
The FCE-CFDT notes that the talks between the two groups ended in "a friendly rapprochement rather than a costly stockholder and legal battle whose outcome would have been uncertain."
But the union says that "questions about the synergies expected need to be answered now by the new chairman." In particular, "becoming the world's fourth-biggest oil producer must not mean forgetting concerns about the future of industrial plant, exploration, production and refining, and about the level and location of employment in this sector, notably on the research side and as regards headquarters and commercial services."
Recalling that France does not have surplus refining capacity, the FCE-CFDT says the merger will be "an opportunity to modernise French industrial plant as a whole and prepare it for the introduction of new environmental standards."
As to the merged group's production of fine and specialty chemicals, the union insists that this "must not be sacrificed to the financing operation for development in the oil sector." The new corporation should, the FCE-CFDT says, draw on analyses made by CFDT unionists within the two groups, favouring an "integrated" chemicals operation. "For example, the future of the chlorine chemistry and fertiliser branches calls for clarifications and commitments, which the FCE-CFDT intends to obtain in both the industrial and the social spheres." The union also calls for guarantees on the further development of subsidiary Sanofi-Synthe-Labo.
The new group should rapidly open a social dialogue "on the future of employment, on the introduction of new work organisation and on work times and patterns," the union urges. "The FCE-CFDT will do everything possible to ensure that the merger of the two groups is accompanied by strong guarantees for workers and jobs, and we will be requesting a meeting with the new chairman in order to put our views on the group's industrial and social plans."
At the global level, the FCE-CFDT is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
Agreement on a merger between the Franco-Belgian group TotalFina and French-based Elf-Aquitaine was announced yesterday. The new group will be the world's fourth-biggest oil concern, with some 150,000 employees and a market capitalisation of 95.48 billion Euro.
The FCE-CFDT notes that the talks between the two groups ended in "a friendly rapprochement rather than a costly stockholder and legal battle whose outcome would have been uncertain."
But the union says that "questions about the synergies expected need to be answered now by the new chairman." In particular, "becoming the world's fourth-biggest oil producer must not mean forgetting concerns about the future of industrial plant, exploration, production and refining, and about the level and location of employment in this sector, notably on the research side and as regards headquarters and commercial services."
Recalling that France does not have surplus refining capacity, the FCE-CFDT says the merger will be "an opportunity to modernise French industrial plant as a whole and prepare it for the introduction of new environmental standards."
As to the merged group's production of fine and specialty chemicals, the union insists that this "must not be sacrificed to the financing operation for development in the oil sector." The new corporation should, the FCE-CFDT says, draw on analyses made by CFDT unionists within the two groups, favouring an "integrated" chemicals operation. "For example, the future of the chlorine chemistry and fertiliser branches calls for clarifications and commitments, which the FCE-CFDT intends to obtain in both the industrial and the social spheres." The union also calls for guarantees on the further development of subsidiary Sanofi-Synthe-Labo.
The new group should rapidly open a social dialogue "on the future of employment, on the introduction of new work organisation and on work times and patterns," the union urges. "The FCE-CFDT will do everything possible to ensure that the merger of the two groups is accompanied by strong guarantees for workers and jobs, and we will be requesting a meeting with the new chairman in order to put our views on the group's industrial and social plans."
At the global level, the FCE-CFDT is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).