Strike could resume Wednesday at ExxonMobil complex in France

By America Hernandez

PARIS (Reuters) - A strike by chemical unit workers set to lose their jobs at an ExxonMobil petrochemical complex in northern France will remain suspended through June 4 while talks are held over severance packages, the company and a union said on Friday.

The strike at Port Jerome Gravenchon complex could resume on June 5 if those talks do not resolve outstanding issues, the CGT union representative added.

Last month ExxonMobil Chemical France said it would shut down the steam cracker and close chemical production at Gravenchon this year, resulting in 677 job losses from 2025.

The site has lost more than 500 million euros ($542 million) since 2018 and remains uncompetitive, the company said.

On May 24, around 20 chemical unit workers over several shifts announced they were striking over unsatisfactory departure negotiations, resulting in a limited number of shift operators through May 29 but no supply interruption.

A halt was announced to allow for continued negotiations on May 30 and June 4.

The strike concerns workers in polypropylene and polyethylene production. Refinery operations are unaffected.

($1 = 0.9221 euros)

(Reporting by America Hernandez; Editing by Mark Potter)