The Sindicato Petrolero, Gas Privado y Energías Renovables de Santa Cruz began a general strike that paralyzed activity in the province's fields. The measure responds to contract cancellations, lack of tasks and layoffs that the SIPGER considers a threat to hundreds of positions. The workers also maintain a presence at the accesses as part of a protest extended to the entire Santa Cruz hydrocarbon operation.
The conflict was activated after Patagonia Resources refused to reinstate personnel and moved forward with contractual cuts. The union, led by Rafael Güenchenén, stated that other operators made similar decisions. The reduction of teams left workers without effective tasks and, in several cases, ended in layoffs, a sequence that led the union to replace partial claims with a total stoppage.
Güenchenén succeeded Claudio Vidal, current governor of Santa Cruz, in the union leadership. Under the new leadership, the SIPGER stated that it will not accept a covert stoppage of production or a progressive emptying of the basin. The claim requires the companies to explain their investment levels, the continuity of the projects and the destination of the contracts that support each work team.
The protest is not limited to the reinstatements demanded of Patagonia Resources. The union seeks answers for workers affected by cuts from different companies and links job stability with the existence of specific tasks. From that perspective, maintaining a contract without sufficient activity does not offer a lasting solution either if teams continue to shrink and new productive fronts do not appear.
The SIPGER incorporated a specific request to YPF: to urgently begin environmental remediation and well abandonment work, with priority for the hiring of local labor. This proposal attempts to convert pending obligations into activity capable of sustaining jobs. Its execution, however, depends on the operator defining projects, deadlines and contracts that have not yet been detailed.
The outcome is subject to negotiation on reinstatements, contracts and investments. As long as there are no verifiable commitments, the union maintains the strike and its presence at the entrances. The confirmed fact is the general shutdown of the oilfields; The exact number of layoffs and positions at risk was not quantified, so the reference to hundreds of jobs remains as a union warning and not as a closed list.
