The CGT calls for a freeze on fuel prices in the face of soaring prices

How can we fight against the inexorable surge in fuel prices, which has hit the wallets of millions of French people since the start of the crisis in the Middle East? For the general secretary of the CGT, guest on Tuesday morning on BFMTV, the solution is obvious: we must “block the prices and margins of oil tankers, it costs nothing to public finances”, which “would make it possible to secure purchasing power”. In Sophie Binet's sights: TotalEnergies, which has made 120 billion in profits since the start of the war in Ukraine and the rise in energy prices, and which she accuses of taking advantage of the situation.

“Total’s strategy is still shameful. They have a capped price at their service stations, but on the other hand, they always sell their fuels very dearly to other distributors,” criticized the union representative. A practice that Sophie Binet describes as “dumping”, and which she accuses of “suffocating” competing service stations. She particularly attacked the Minister of SMEs and Commerce Serge Papin, who declared last week that he did not want to “annoy” the French energy giant, in the sights of France Insoumise.

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Faced with the surge in station prices, TotalEnergies has increased its commercial gestures, notably capping its station prices at 1.99 euros per liter of SP95-E10 and 2.25 euros per liter of diesel, compared to respectively 2.17 euros and 2.39 euros on average across all stations. “Now, it’s expensive to go to work,” deplores Sophie Binet, adding that “we can no longer go see our loved ones because we can no longer fill up.”