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UPDATE 2-Brazil oil strike in 2nd day, output maintained

Published: 24 Mar 2009 15:32:04 PST

* Petrobras meeting with union yields no agreement

* Union says Petrobras improves offer on profit sharing

* Petrobras shares close 1.65 pct lower at 30.35 reais (Adds union comments on meeting with Petrobras)

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 24 - Striking oil workers in Brazil stayed off the job for a second straight day Tuesday, but state energy company Petrobras kept production flowing with emergency crews, the union said.

Workers belonging to the FUP association of oil workers' unions began a five-day strike on Sunday night over contractual conditions and recent layoffs and said they had temporarily cut oil output on Petrobras's P-34 platform and other facilities nationwide.

"The strike is continuing. There has been no change. P-34 is operating with emergency teams," strike coordinator Joao Antonio de Moraes told Reuters, adding that striking workers on the platform had now returned ashore.

A Petrobras spokeswoman said the company's human resources director, Diego Hernandes, would meet union delegates in mid-afternoon to try to negotiate an end to the stoppage.

The meeting yielded no agreement, even though Petrobras increased its offer on profit sharing, Moraes said.

"The company has improved some points and increased the profit sharing (proposal) to 4.3 percent from 4.17 percent," he said.

Workers continued to occupy a terminal located in the town of Guarulhos on Tuesday, near Sao Paulo's international airport. It supplies the airport with jet fuel, but de Moraes said workers had committed to ensure supplies were maintained.

He said workers at one refinery had been locked out of the premises while substitute teams continued operations there.

Petrobras said on Monday afternoon that it had deployed emergency teams to continue operations and said output was unaffected. It says it remains open to dialogue with the strikers who are angered by recent layoffs and are seeking to increase their share of profits.

Petrobras shares fell 1.65 percent to 30.35 reais after rallying more than 6 percent on Monday when investors were enthused by a jump in oil prices and mostly ignored the strike.

The stoppage is already headed in a similar direction to previous industrial action the FUP led last July. Oil workers managed then to briefly reduce oil output until emergency teams arrived and restored it within hours.

That strike rumbled on for several more days but with little tangible effect on the company's operations.

The FUP demands Petrobras reinstate sub-contractors whose contracts the firm terminated, a clearly defined and "fair" share of company profits for workers and guarantees that bank holidays and overtime hours will be paid.

It also wants Petrobras to improve working conditions on sites which it says are increasingly hazardous, but it has not stated what the specific problems are.


Source: Reuters

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