Uruguayan Court Prohibits Workers’ Protest at Petrobras Subsidiary

About 164 Workers Occupied, This Thursday, April 25, MontevideoGas, the Distributor of Natural Gas in Montevideo, Uruguay, Controlled by Petrobras.

On Wednesday, April 24, the Autonomous Union of Workers and Employees of the Gas Company (Uaoegas) approved in assembly the occupation of the facility by the employees, called “control obrero.” The occupation began this Thursday, the 25th, at 6 AM, and the workers said they would not leave the location. Of the 164 employees of the company, 140 are union members and participate in the occupation. Represented by the union’s leadership committee, the employees opted for what is called workers’ control (control obrero, in Spanish), which means occupation and that the employees would assume management of the subsidiary.

By occupying the company, the workers claim that public gas supply services are deteriorating. According to a document released by the union, there has been a loss of “more than 7,000 users since [Petrobras] took over the distribution of piped gas.”

According to a note from the union, Petrobras refuses to find a solution for the rehiring of 20 employees who are on what’s called “seguro de paro,” which is the local benefit for unemployed workers. Uaoegas is also demanding the immediate exit of the company from the natural gas distribution service in the country.

The actions were taken due to a cost-reduction policy by the Brazilian state-owned company. The employees are asking Petrobras to leave the country and for the control of the company to be transferred to the union.

Uruguayan courts prohibited the Gas Workers Union (Unión Autónoma de Obreros y Empleados de la Compañía de Gas) from occupying the headquarters of MontevideoGas, a subsidiary of Petrobras in Uruguay. The ruling, issued by Judge Hugo Rundie, ensures the entry and exit of company employees to serve customers and suppliers, and prohibits workers’ control.

In the ruling, the judge stated that workers’ control violates property rights and that the initiative is “manifestly illegitimate and blatantly violates the constitutional rights and freedoms” and that the occupation of the headquarters “would be attacking the genuine and true management of the company, directly disregarding the right of property.”

For union leader Alejandro Acosta, the company’s property rights cannot override other rights. “First of all, this is a state-owned company, the gas company, granted for 30 years, therefore it is a public service concession that should not be governed by private law, as if it were any other company. Secondly, there is also the right to work, which has been affected.”

Petrobras stated in a note earlier this month that the Brazilian company continues to fulfill all obligations and maintain the gas distribution service “with the highest standards of quality and safety in the industry.”

A man who worked onboard for Petrobras died on Easter Sunday, aboard the ship where he was housed, in the Campos Basin.