Despite the fact that the Sidor board of directors offered bonuses to the protesters to dispel the strike, the Sidorists reiterated that they want the dollarization of their salaries permanently
Workers of the Siderúrgica del Orinoco (Sidor) rejected the economic agreement offered by the state company to end the protest that began more than 24 hours ago on Avenida de los Trabajadores, a road artery that connects Ciudad Bolívar with Puerto Ordaz. The protesters emphasized that they will continue to prevent the passage until a representative of the board gives them answers in accordance with their requests.
For more than 24 hours, a group of approximately 1,000 Sidor workers have been protesting to demand their rights and demanding that the state company dollarize wages. The demonstration that began on January 9 and that, until the afternoon of this January 10, is maintained.
*Read also: Sidoristas refute productive achievements announced by the company’s board of directors
The director of Sidor’s Labor Legal Department, Noraly de la Rosa, appeared at the scene to offer an economic agreement to the workers, which consisted of paying them a $200 bonus on January 10 and another economic compensation of $400 for the Friday, January 13, on the condition that the protest be lifted.
The agreement was rejected by the protesters, who demand salaries that have an impact on their fortnightly, not bonuses and, in addition, ratified the request that their salaries be dollarized and anchored to the exchange rate offered by the Central Bank of Venezuela.
“Yesterday the lawyer came and brought a proposal of 200 dollars for today. A $200 bond and $400 for Friday. We are not asking for a bonus, we are asking for salaries. We don’t want food for now and hunger for tomorrow. We don’t accept that. So far, only she has come,” said one of the Sidor workers.
*Read also: Sidor workers consider the directive’s projections for 2023 “impossible”
Threats and intimidation in Sidor
The workers kept vigil during the night of January 9, and the entire fleet of company buses is in place, since the drivers of the state company joined the claim of the rest of the personnel.
Because of this, they declared that the head of the company’s transportation area communicated via WhatsApp with his subordinates, threatening them with dismissal and deactivation if they continued to demonstrate.
“They have written to the drivers and workers of the Pellas Plant to threaten them with deactivation and dismissal,” said one of the workers who spent the night at the demonstration.
“Until they give us an answer”
With the aim of improving their salary conditions, the workers asserted that they will remain in their claim until they receive an answer. They also stressed that they do their job, but that the company does not comply with the commitment to guarantee their wage rights.
“We do not like the proposal that the lawyer brought us because it is absurd that they offer us a bonus of 200 dollars for today and then they forget about it. We fill the fridge right now and on the 15th we will charge 40 dollars again. Our fortnights have devalued 75%. It is not enough for us to support our children,” said the spokespersons for the movement.
Step continues to be blocked
While the Sidorists shout “decent wages now”, the drivers of heavy-duty vehicles, students and travelers who tried to cross the avenue remain stranded.
The workers assured that they allowed the passage of buses with travelers and children in the early hours of the morning; however, some drivers claim that this is false.
“We have been here at this gate since yesterday. I have been here since yesterday at 12 noon and they have not let anyone through. Imagine, I who charge gas have the plants stopped. We don’t have to bathe or eat. This does not make sense, that they block your company, not the highway where parents and workers pass by, “said Christian Pineda, a worker at the Gas Comunal company.
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