The Daily Journal.- Representatives of oil industry unions in Zulia state have called on workers to attend a meeting on October 1 to discuss collective bargaining negotiations and other labor issues affecting industry employees.
The meeting will take place at 9:00 a.m. at the Casa de la Cultura and will bring together workers from Baralt municipality, the Eastern Shore of Lake Maracaibo, the southern Lake Maracaibo region and other oil-producing areas in western Venezuela, union leaders said.
Pedro Montilla, secretary general of the Oil Workers and Employees Union (SOEP) of Mene Grande, urged oil workers from Baralt municipality and surrounding areas to participate in the meeting.
“We want to call on all oil sector workers in Baralt municipality, as well as those along the coast and our colleagues from the Southern Lake-Trujillo area, to participate in an activity that we will hold on October 1,” he said.
Jairo Ovalles, president of the United Union of Venezuelan Oil Workers (Sinutrapetrol), explained that the meeting seeks to build consensus among workers regarding the status of collective bargaining in the industry.
“We are calling on workers to participate in a discussion where we can reach some agreements,” he said.
According to Ovalles, one of the main concerns involves negotiations over the oil sector’s collective bargaining agreement, which he said workers and employers have not discussed for four consecutive bargaining periods.
“This is the fourth collective bargaining agreement that has gone without discussion, and workers are genuinely concerned about what will happen on October 1,” he said.
The union leader added that participants will also discuss workers with administrative reinstatement orders who, according to the unions, have not returned to their jobs.
Demands over retirement and pensions
The union agenda will also address retirees and survivors, particularly issues involving the pension fund, Ovalles said.
“We will also address the issue of our retirees and survivors in relation to the pension fund,” he said.
The union leader added that participants plan to discuss other labor issues identified during meetings with oil industry workers, including Circular Memorandum 2792.
Ovalles also called on Acting President Delcy Rodríguez to repeal the measure, which he argues prevents unions from negotiating collective bargaining agreements.
“We are asking President Delcy Rodríguez (…) to repeal that balancing mechanism that prevents collective bargaining agreements from taking place in this country,” he said.
The unions also propose reorganizing the oil labor movement in Zulia and are calling on workers from different municipalities to participate in what they described as a “reunion of the working class.”
“The call is for workers from the different municipalities of Zulia state to organize and come together as a working class to recover the collective bargaining agreement,” Ovalles said.
The unions issued the call as the oil sector experiences a boom in contracts with multinational companies and authorities implement reforms to attract new investment. The organizations behind the meeting argue that discussions about working conditions are part of the sector’s challenges and should include workers and their unions.
