French CGT Oil Sector Workers to Join May Strike

French oil sector workers of the CGT trade union will join a national strike at refineries and other installations from May 17 to May 20 against a planned government reform of French labour law, a CGT union official told Reuters on Friday.

The union will also propose to shutdown production at refineries and other oil sector sites during a May 20 meeting, Thierry Defresne, CGT union official at Total, said after a general assembly meeting of the trade union.

"What we have decided this morning is to launch a strike on all refineries in France from May 17 in the morning until midday on May 20," Defresne said, adding that the strike will affect Exxon Mobil and Esso facilities.

"On May 20, CGT will call for a shutdown of production on all sites," he said, adding some refineries such as Total's 117,000 bpd Feyzin refinery was already on strike since yesterday morning and Total's Normandy unit will call for a 72 hour strike.

Reporting by Bate Felix