Brazil oil workers strike over pay.3/24/2009 12:48:07 AM Tens of thousands of Brazilian oil workers have begun a five-day strike to protest against pay cuts and working conditions. At least 50,000 of 74,000 production workers at Petrobras, the state-run oil firm, halted work at refineries, oil wells and platforms on Monday, said the National Oil Workers Federation. However, Petrobras' press office said overall production across the country was normal after contingency plans A plan involving suitable backups, immediate actions and longer term measures for responding to computer emergencies such as attacks or accidental disasters. Contingency plans are part of business resumption planning. were set in motion when the strike began. Ferreira Dantas, a spokesman for the workers federation, said employees halted production at the Reman re·man tr.v. re·manned, re·man·ning, re·mans 1. To supply with new personnel: reman a ship. 2. To imbue with new manliness or courage. refinery in the Amazon jungle jungle [Hindustani jangal=desert, forest; from Skt. jangala=wasteland, uncultivated land], densest form of tropical forest (usually second growth or later) found throughout tropical lowland regions. city of Manaus. The strike also stopped the production of at least 70 per cent of the oil and gas from the more than 20 offshore rigs and onshore on·shore adj. 1. Moving or directed toward the shore: an onshore wind. 2. Located on the shore: an onshore beacon; an onshore patrol. adv. wells in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (rē`  grän`dĭ th nôr`tĭ), state (1996 pop. , Dantas said.
Union officials say 165 employees have been killed in the last seven years in accidents. Petrobras' net income rose 58 per cent to 33.9bn reals ($14.2bn) last year amid an output increase of 4.3 per cent as global oil prices soared to more than $147 a barrel in July before falling to $54 on Monday. Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman Lucia Newman (born February 18) is a British journalist. She worked for CNN for 20 years; she now works for Al Jazeera. Newman was born in England. Later she lived in Argentina, the United States, Chile, Australia, Peru, and Panama. said the firm's ambitious plans for expansion were being hit by the global economic downturn just as workers were demanding a bigger share of profits. The firm is third largest oil producer in the Americas and one of the 20 largest in the world. Aljazeera.net 2003 - 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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