A battle of numbers. As the employees of the Exxonmobil and Total refineries begin their third week of mobilization and gasoline is running out at many service stations in France, the debate shifts to the level of remuneration within TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil.
The first opened the debate by publishing a press release on Sunday, October 9, in which it specified the salary conditions of refinery operators: according to TotalEnergies, they receive an average of 5,000 euros per month, including profit sharing (4,300 euros per month without participation). in benefits). ). A figure that covers workers and supervisors; and that excludes executives. The unions dispute these figures, advocating a lower salary range.
In ExxonMobil, the CGT, for example, claims a starting salary for the OETAM (Workers, Employees, Technicians and Supervisors) of 2,120 euros gross. A figure that overlaps estimates from multiple platforms, such as Indeed. Contacted by BFM Business, the CGT TotalEnergies transmits similar figures.
This would correspond to a contract of around 1,923 euros gross (for 13 months), and an average of 3,075 euros per month for 13 months, this time with bonuses included. As a reminder, the average monthly salary of a private sector employee reached, according to INSEE, 1,785 euros per month in 2020.
Incentive, bonuses and “rooms”
Companies and unions do not have the same figures, because they do not make the same calculations. Taking the average salary as a reference, TotalEnergies hides, for example, the differences in remuneration between newly hired employees and those with more seniority.
By relying on the starting salary, the employee representatives, for their part, hide possible increases during the career. On this issue, the CFDT is asking ExxonMobil, for example, to remove the cap on the seniority bonus, which is currently frozen.
This is the meaning of the intervention of Germinal Lancelin, general secretary of the CGT ExxonMobil Chimie, on BFMTV, questioned on the issue of wages:
Multiple bonuses are also taken into account, which makes calculations and comparisons difficult: an employee who works in “shifts” -there are many, the refineries do not stop working- works staggered hours and will obtain a more important remuneration. The increase in certain shift premiums is also part of the demands of the unions. High difficulty bonuses may also be paid, as employees work in dirty environments or require the use of an oxygen mask.
Last point to take into account: the presence of temporary workers and fixed-term contracts in the refineries. Their salaries vary and can influence the result obtained on average. The strong tensions on the workforce in the sector finally push, according to the CGT, many employees to increase overtime. Neither TotalEnergies nor the unions detail the methodology of their calculations in terms of wages, and the consideration -or not- of these variables.
Bonuses or raises?
In addition to these differentiated calculations, the two sides disagree on the amount of the increases obtained by the employees. TotalEnergies highlights its gesture of an “average increase of 3.5%” of employees by 2022 to fight inflation; but the CGT explains that this figure is false.
Therefore, the 10% increase claimed still seems a long way off, although TotalEnergies explains that it also paid “a credit note of 150 euros in March 2022 for French employees who subscribed to gas and electricity at TotalEnergies, and a bonus of energy of 200 euros net in July 2022 for all employees”. And he affirms his choice to have brought the next salary negotiations closer, from January 2023 to next November.
Redeployments
Finally, the disagreements come from the fact that the employees are demanding exceptional raises, due to the exceptional profits obtained by the two oil companies. TotalEnergies made more than 10 billion profit in the first half, as Esso (ExxonMobil) generated a group share of net income of 1.075 million euros in the first half in France, more than in all of 2021 (573 million euros).
Beyond wages, employees therefore demand a share that better reflects their contribution to these benefits. TotalEnergies promotes an effective profit sharing system.
A figure much higher than the French average, despite the fact that the device is mandatory in France for any company with more than 50 employees that obtain benefits: in 2022, an employee received on average in France 1,700 euros for this type of device, according to to an Amundi studio. At Esso as well as at TotalEnergies, employee share ownership schemes also exist and benefit the employees who benefit from them, as both stocks have seen their prices take off with the energy crisis.
Source: BFM TV
