After the 24-hour stoppage of FANCAP, which included the stoppage of the activities of the La Teja refinery, the Board of the energy entity issued a statement in which it indicated that a “fault in the Refinery delays the return to normal production.”
“As a result of the interruption of production as a result of union measures, during the start-up of the refinery units a problem arose in the catalytic cracking unit. The problem involved this unit having to be taken out of service. A minimum period of 7 to 10 days of loss of production of that unit is estimated, in addition to the days already lost ”, the company stated.
ANCAP affirms that it has “sufficient stock for all products to ensure supply during the period of the stoppage”. However, the company indicates that it has taken “additional measures to maintain the supply of the domestic market.”
The energy entity estimates that there will be a “significant” economic damage, which will be determined in the next few days, after the situation is normalized.
Following the ANCAP statement, the ANCAP Federation (FANCAP) issued a statement in which it states that the union deeply regrets that this incident has occurred this time, which has already occurred previously during the start-up process, and that forces to “stop the operation in that area, not so in the rest of the refinery.”
FANCAP assures that the other production units of the refinery at this time “are completing their start-up without problems.”
“The ANCAP Federation made all possible efforts to avoid the refinery shutdown, a fact of which the authorities of the Minister of Labor have full knowledge, and on the other hand, it is recorded in the minutes,” says the union of workers of the energy company.
State and public ANCAP
The statement indicates that the 24-hour strike resolved by FANCAP “was in defense of the democratic will of the Uruguayan people to keep ANCAP state and public, since the decision of the Board of Directors and the national government to privatize Portland ignores the popular pronouncement. expressed on December 7, 2003 ”.
The federation assures that given the imminence of the 24-hour strike, FANCAP’s position was not to stop the refinery, but rather “in the face of the unilateral complaint by ANCAP of the Collective Agreement, the Federation’s proposal on Monday 6 at the Ministry of Labor It was to grant the guild guards to keep the refinery running as it has always done, requesting ANCAP to extend the validity of the collective agreement for 15 more days ”.
“Although the ANCAP authorities present at the Ministry of Labor were willing to accept the proposal, when consulted by telephone, the president of ANCAP responded with a resounding no,” the union questions.
In this sense, based on the position of the president of ANCAP and the stoppage ordered by FANCAP, the authorities of the entity declared that “ANCAP would proceed to initiate the refinery shutdown procedures, and would take the necessary actions to guarantee the safety of the processes , people and facilities, and would coordinate with the union the minimum presence that is required to guarantee security while the union action lasts ”.
FANCAP also indicates that in the case of the 24-hour strike at the refinery, “a guard was agreed with the administration to guarantee the safety of equipment, people and the environment proposed by the administration, for which FANCAP even proposed to increase”.
The union indicated that the company declared that “it would proceed to stop the units according to the usual plant shutdown procedures and instructions, prioritizing the safety of people, the environment and the facilities,” which for the union “shows that it was not carried out. no emergency stop ”.
On the other hand, the union remarks that ANCAP affirmed that “the management of all the facilities is the responsibility of its authorities”, a concept with which the union fully agrees and was made explicit in the minutes signed with the authorities.
“ANCAP proceeded to stop the refinery due to the unilateral decision to annul the collective agreement, which regulated the guilds for almost 30 years and allowed to maintain normal production even when union stoppages were carried out,” says the union.
For this reason, FANCAP rejects the accusations made by different government actors and reiterates to the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, the creation of a real negotiation environment, which resumes the path of dialogue.
