Oct 3 (Reuters) - Energy major Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) can

move ahead with a plan to cut jobs at its Port Jerome refinery

in northern France after obtaining a majority agreement this

week with unions, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

Workers at the petrochemical side of the refinery have been

on strike since mid-May to try to safeguard jobs at the plant.

Exxon said on Monday it had reached an agreement with two of

the four trade unions representing staff at the plant, CFE-CGC

and CFDT, after negotiations reduced the number of job cuts in

France to 608 from 677.

The company said in a press release that those deals had

enabled it to obtain a majority agreement and that it could now

present its draft Employment Protection Plan to the French

government for approval.

The majority agreement will allow management to focus on

implementing the project, a company spokesperson told Reuters,

without elaborating on a timeline for the job cuts it contained.

The other unions representing workers at the plant, CGT and

Force Ouvriere, refused to sign the plan and said they would

extend the strike at the petrochemical side of the refinery.

"For the CGT, the struggle will continue until the

installations are dismantled. We have submitted an alternative

project to the authorities, asking them to compel Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) to

maintain the activity or, failing that, to find a buyer," a CGT

spokesperson told Reuters.

Exxon has two refineries in France that account for about

30% of the country's capacity.

So far, the strike action has been limited to chemical

workers after Exxon said it would shut down its steam cracker

and close chemical production at the site this year.

Contacted by Reuters, the CGT said it currently did not plan

to extend the movement to the oil processing units.