Desolate roads, shortages and rushed negotiations in conflict that paralyzes the South for 18 days

The routes that connect Neuquén to Bariloche, San Martín de Los Andes and Villa La Angostura remain sorry and almost no traffic on the 18th day of the dispute led by the Independent Health Workers of Neuquén over a wage claim.

Route 40 in its different branches that connect the Alto Valle to the Cordillera is cut by the Picún Leufú and Arroyito stakes.

Health workers keep branches, stones, flags with slogans on the course and expose themselves to each picket line.

Trucks, private cars from the area on business trips and tourists manage to cross the roadblocks that have deepened in the last 48 hours.

In the main towns of Río Negro and Neuquén, fuel is scarce and refueling for travel has become a sort of urban adventure. The silversmiths themselves tell the pilots that their own stations or those of the competition have some reserves.

At Vaca Muerta, stakes keep the site completely sealed. the losses reach 12 million USD per day. Almost all of the drilling platforms are inactive (18 of 19).

The conflict will affect the Gas Plan and will rebound in winter when the injection of fluid in the national network decreases, voices of the sector indicate it.

Bugle He spoke to sources from some of the main operators, who explained that operators cannot reach the fields and that other senior officials are not allowed to enter the wells to carry out safety checks and d ‘interview.

There were companies that used airplanes for the purpose of transferring their specialists to wells that required observations and related work.

Companies monitor drilling and production areas through remote communication, but experts still need to go to the source to confirm data and verify safety regulations.

At some of the sites, located in the Vaca Muerta desert, about 100 kilometers from the main towns in the region, workers who were on post were stranded and unable to return home for more than two weeks.

This Friday, the general secretary of the oil companies of Neuquén, Río Negro and La Pampa warned that his union would abolish 30 thousand workers in the street if the roads were not open.

At Cutral Co and Plaza Huincul, where the refineries are located, there are pickets at the entrance to both towns. The situation, the neighbors tell this newspaper, recalls the Population in 1996 and 1997, when the road was closed by the first picketers, former YPF workers.

In the paradores of routes 40 and 22, the drivers pass on information to each other on the state of the stakes. “Patience, boys,” says the one who comes from Arroyito and goes to Bariloche with a family heading for Neuquén.

Expectations at every cutoff are unpredictable. Some can last an hour or three.

Bus companies that connect the entire northern Patagonia region have restricted hours and only operate in the afternoon.

Envoys from Bugle They did not meet any groups in the four hour drive and only a dozen trucks. The road shines empty and apocalyptic like in a Mad Max movie.

Talks

Omar Gutiérrez’s government has been in talks with ATE since Friday afternoon. Secretary-General Carlos Quintriqueo said he asked 45% increase in the basic one, on the 15% they had already agreed in March.

This 15% is precisely the one that caused the conflict to explode among health workers who do not respond to ATE. Anyway, from the health movement they have already warned that ATE does not represent them and that the stakes will not rise beyond the union agreement led by Carlos Quintriqueo.

The government responded to the first 10 days of picketing with a bonus of 40 thousand pesos in installments, which began to be filed last week. But health workers rejected the idea that it would serve to free the roads.

Neuquén was stopped at least 20 points away, causing severe delays in the passage of trucks and shortages of fuel and food.

In Zapala, a hundred trucks wait for days to continue their journey. Another 100 were seen in Villa La Angostura, the majority of Chile, heading towards Punta Arenas.

The bridge that connects Neuquén Capital to Río Negro and the rest of the country has also intervened and queues are the norm. The towns of Añelo and Rincón de los Sauces continue isolated.

On Thursday and Friday, Chilean and Argentinian truckers cut off road 237 at Villa La Angostura for a few minutes in protest for not being able to move forward. There were discussions and insults with neighbors and individuals.

In this context, around forty gendarmerie agents opened the pickets for entering and leaving the village for about an hour, which allowed the situation to decompress, but the workers closed the fence.

Nequen. Special delivery.

LM