2 November, 2011ICEM, IMF and CEP-Canada side with USO members at Campo Rubiales trying to negotiate a bargaining agreement with Canadian oil multinational Pacific Rubiales.
COLOMBIA: Talks between the Colombian oilworkers' Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) and Pacific Rubiales, a Canadian oil and gas extracting company, broke down on October 21 when the local company management tried to circumvent the legitimate bargaining partner, and instead signed an accord with a minor union, UTEN, representing 400 members in administration. USO represents over 14,000 actual oilworkers in the oilfields of Rubiales and Quifa in Colombia.
In a joint letter, the IMF, ICEM and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union of Canada (CEP) criticises the callousness, indifference, and underhanded manner in which Colombian management of Pacific Rubiales manipulates a process against the wishes of a majority of the Colombian employees, and urges the company management to instruct the local management to return to negotiations with USO.
In a joint letter, the IMF, ICEM and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union of Canada (CEP) criticises the callousness, indifference, and underhanded manner in which Colombian management of Pacific Rubiales manipulates a process against the wishes of a majority of the Colombian employees, and urges the company management to instruct the local management to return to negotiations with USO.