31 May, 2010
Following 168 days of bargaining, management at the Pampilla refinery, in the Ventanilla district on the Western edge of capital Lima, continues to refuse to bargain in good faith.
The refinery is a subsidiary of the Spanish multinational Repsol. With a daily capacity of 102,000 barrels, La Pampilla is responsible for over half the refining capacity of Peru.
Fenupetrol, the Oil Workers’ Union in Peru, has found Repsol to behave very differently than the image that the company portrays – one of being an ethical company, with high regard for corporate social responsibility.
Moises Ochoa, National Secretary of International Relations at Fenupetrol, reports that following management’s failure to offer anything reasonable to the bargaining committee since negotiations began on 15 December 2009, the union has moved to request legal arbitration for bargaining.
As collective bargaining at the company enters its second stage, Fenupetrol reiterate its demands in light of recent large company profits and following five years with no increase in workers’ salaries. The Pampilla employees now earn 33% less than oil workers elsewhere in the country, for instance at Petroperu. Sales for the rest of 2010 are projected to be very high. The bargaining committee now seeks 25-30% rise in base salaries, improvements in the profit bonus and shift bonus, as well as a significant increase in the food allowance for workers.
The Pampilla refinery reported revenues of US$802 million during the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 68.4% over last year.
The ICEM calls on Repsol and the local Pampilla management to bargain in good faith, and come to terms with wages deficiencies incurred over the last five years.