After Halliburton layoffs, the Argentine oil union has threatened to strike

The union of oil and gas workers in Argentina's oil rich Chubut province, which has hundreds of employees laid off by Halliburton and a local office closing, threatened to strike after Halliburton closed its local office and dismissed hundreds.

Carlos Gomez said that the Chubut Private Oil and Gas Union's deputy secretary, Carlos Gomez spoke on the broadcast radio channel of the union, and claimed that the company had reneged on its commitment to maintain staffing levels and fired 290 employees on Monday without notice to the union.

Chubut, Argentina's second largest oil producing province, is expected to produce 7.4 million cubic metres of crude oil in 2024. This represents about 20% of Argentina's total production.

Companies such as the state-owned oil company YPF are selling their mature oil fields to concentrate on the massive Vaca Muerta area, which is one of the largest shale gas and oil formations in the world.

Halliburton didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. However, Gomez stated that the company blamed layoffs on the reduced work in the region and its inability guarantee profits.

The union has filed a complaint at the regional labor authorities, and asked for a mandatory conciliation by Friday to reach a deal with Halliburton.

Gomez stated that "if the mandatory conciliation does not end with Halliburton resolving the issue of the nearly 300 workers who were fired, both unions would go on general strike across all oil and gas fields." The union represents approximately 8,000 workers.

The union will join the workers of Santa Cruz province, who have been on strike for the past week to stop YPF from leaving the region. This area produces 10% of the oil in the country. (Reporting from Alexander Villegas, Santiago; Editing and rewriting by Richard Chang.)

(source: Reuters)