Venezuelan oil workers to stage walkout

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Wednesday, 11 October, 2000, 01:48 GMT 02:48 UK Venezuelan oil workers to stage walkout

Thousands of oil workers in Venezuela have announced they will begin a strike later today Wednesday to press for a pay rise.

The move comes after negotations on a new collective labour agreement broke down.

The state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, says the strike is illegal.

It has a contingency plan to replace striking workers with non-union staff, but a prolonged stoppage could affect output.

Venezuela is the world's third largest oil exporter, producing three-million-barrels a day

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_966000/966401.stm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 10, 2000

Answers

Boy that was good timing with Carl.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 10, 2000.

Wednesday, 11 October, 2000, 14:48 GMT 15:48 UK Venezuela's oil workers on strike

Venezuela's largest oil union has gone on a twenty-four hour strike to press its demand for higher wages.

A leader of the Fedepetrol union, Rafael Zambrano, said the stoppage could be extended if the state oil company -- PDVSA -- didn't agree to the pay rise.

Government officials are due to meet representatives of Fedepetrol and a smaller striking union later today Wednesday.

But Mr Zambrano said he was skeptical that an accord would be reached. Venezuela exports some three-million barrels of oil per day

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_966000/966401.s tm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 11, 2000.


Friday October 13 3:31 PM ET Venezuelan Oil Strike in 3rd Day, Talks Stalled

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan oil strike entered its third day Friday with pay talks still stalled, but oil production at the world's No. 3 exporter normal due to a contingency plan by state oil company PDVSA, officials said.

Venezuela's largest oil union Fedepetrol said talks on a long-overdue collective contract were deadlocked after PDVSA suspended a meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

President Hugo Chavez's government brought pressure to bear on PDVSA to get back to the negotiating table as opposition union leaders raising the tone of their rhetoric.

The strike pits unions controlled by opposition political parties against the radical, left-leaning government of President Hugo Chavez, in the most serious labor dispute of his 20-month-old government.

``The conflict has become more serious,'' Fedepetrol President Carlos Ortega told journalists.

After meeting with PDVSA officials Friday, Ortega said the union had rejected a call to end the strike before talks resume on the collective contract.

Labor Minister Blancanieves Portocarrero was due to broker talks between the two sides at 3:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT), he said.

Meanwhile, PDVSA Director Domingo Marsicobetre told Reuters production and export of oil and refined products remained normal.

``The (oil) tankers are leaving normally,'' he said. ``We maintain our commitment to our clients in the United States.''

Venezuela is one of the top four suppliers of crude oil and heating fuel to the United States, which is already facing the threat of shortages as inventories remain low and winter approaches.

Strong Support For Strike

Fedepetrol claims 90 percent of the country's 50,000 oil workers have heeded the call to strike, which began Wednesday at 6:00 a.m. local time.

Officials at oil service companies have estimated turnout at between 60 and 80 percent of the workforce, with a particularly strong turnout in the oil rich western state of Zulia which produces around half Venezuela's 3-million barrels a day of crude.

The local media reported Friday that oil workers had occupied a refinery and a docks on the shore of Lake Maracaibo, the center of the oil industry in Zulia.

Vice-President Isaias Rodriguez said that, although the government has not yet fixed its position on the strike, he thought PDVSA had not done enough to reach a deal with unions.

``I feel that the (PDVSA) negotiating commission has not behaved well, and that could be the root of the problem we are seeing at the moment,'' he told reporters.

The inexperienced PDVSA negotiating team had unofficially offered a 6,000 bolivar a day pay rise as part of an agreement to avoid labor demonstrations during September's OPEC (news - web sites) head of state meeting in Caracas. It angered union leaders by trying to change the terms of deal in the wake of the summit, insisting the increase should be staggered over 3 years.

Nevertheless, PDVSA's Marsicobetre said he was optimistic the company could reach a deal with unions later Friday.

Union Says Pdvsa Weakening

Fedepetrol's Ortega said he believed PDVSA would only be able to maintain production at normal levels for a further 24 hours before fatigue began to impact on its remaining staff.

PDVSA has kept operations running at its oilfields, refineries and export terminals by replacing absent workers with senior, non- unionized staff under a well-oiled contingency plan.

During a previous strike last year, the company said it could keep oil flowing for about a week before personnel constraints begin to affect output.

The local press speculated Friday that the government could use decree powers under Venezuelan legislation to force workers back to their posts or face dismissal.

Energy and Mines Minister Ali Rodriguez said Thursday the government preferred to negotiate rather than declare the strike illegal. Fedepetrol's Ortega said the union would ignore a decree ordering its members back to work.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001013/wl/venezuela_strike_dc_1.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 13, 2000.


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