French power sector unions posted a strike notice at French energy provider EDF that will run from the morning of Jan. 15, an EDF spokesperson said on Tuesday, which could lead to production cuts.
State-owned EDF is France's main electricity provider. It has made an offer for annual wage increases and unions have until Jan. 12 to agree to it, the spokesperson said, adding however that it was unlikely unions would sign as the strike call came after the intial offering of the proposal.
The proposal offers an overall rise in remuneration of about 4% for 2024, which includes a general increase of 2% for electricity and gas workers, according to an internal EDF document, seen by Reuters.
"This proposal is in line with the measures taken by the company to ensure the guarantee of purchasing power and the increase in employee compensation, in a context of the Group's high debt and investment needs," the document said.
While EDF might have to cut production during a strike, homes and businesses will probably not be affected as the company usually during strike action has sufficient cover or could import energy.
Staff meetings are expected to take place over the next several days to determine the details of the planned strike, a representative of energy and mining union FNME-CGT said.
"It is time to organise a strike to win a salary increase," Sophie Binet, general secretary of the hard-line CGT union, said on FranceInfo.
Cold weather currently gripping France is expected to ease in the coming days, LSEG data showed, but temperatures are expected to remain below average for January.
French nuclear availability stood at 86% of capacity on Tuesday.
