Pemex has two unions

The absence of Carlos Romero Deschamps, leader of the Union of Petroleum Workers of the Mexican Republic (STPRM) of the celebrations of March 18 in Tula, and the note sent last Friday to the emerging Union of Petroleum Workers This is not a coincidence.

Officially, the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised not to get involved in the internal life of the unions, especially in the election of their leaders, but at the same time launched the promise that under his government, "trade union democracy will prevail", a veiled phrase to those who cling to power like oil to the rocks.

As of this week, Pemex has two unions and although Petromex's registration and recognition by the Ministry of Labor appears to be a blow to the monolithic structure of the STPRM, they will actually face significant challenges as they run several risks. the larger of them must have accelerated growth in the base of activists who leave them vulnerable to the risk of a Trojan horse from caciques promising to fight.

Now, the birth of a new union necessarily implies a tension that controls more than 70% of the workforce of the state's productive enterprise, the largest in the country, where the financial and operational situation is delicate and where a strike, or simply friction between the two labor camps, can cause operational problems for the court.

In general, faced with the natural pressure exerted by the competition, the Sindicato-Deschamps will seek to defend itself and we will be able to see the true size of its power. Be careful

However, apparently, at Petromex, are not in a hurry. In fact, although they have been accompanied by hundreds of oilmen, the registration has only made dozens, because the strategy is long-term and seeks to fight representativeness to negotiate the collective contract. with Pemex until the end of the sexennium, according to their advisers.

The object of Petromex under the command of María Teresa Izquierdo, as they expressed it, is not to overthrow Romero Deschamps, but to make a series of modifications to the clauses allowing to punish the sexual harassers and the leaders who ask for sexual favors from both men. workers and their family members.

Another objective that they also pursue, at least in the speech, is to make free and open elections, without the working conditions, the benefits, being affected (nobody should do it).

For the moment, the oil company has already taken healthy distances with the movement, because after having walked up to the Pemex Tower, as reported yesterday my colleague Zenyazen Flores, the 400 or so Petomex sympathetic workers do not have the right to do so. have not had an open reception. Not very warm, they wanted to receive their credentials "on the sidewalk". No doubt they will have to do their best, but the first step has already been taken.

Marie, the first

Yesterday, Pemex has erased the name of María Teresa Fernández Labardini from the list of independent directors that she has on her website simply because she is the first to leave the board, in a "staggered" strategy that does not seek to create more problems in the financial markets. but whose goal is to leave the remaining three. Who will follow in May, Pastrana or Elizondo?