Claudio Andrade
04/24/2021 3:41 PM
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 04/24/2021 3:41 PM
The routes that connect Neuquén with Bariloche, San Martín de Los Andes and Villa La Angostura remain
desolate and almost without traffic
on the 18th day of the conflict carried out by the Independent Health Workers of Neuquén over a wage claim.
Route 40 in its different arms that connect the Alto Valle with the Cordillera is cut by the pickets in Picún Leufú and Arroyito.
Health workers keep branches, stones, flags with slogans on the route and expose themselves at each picket line.
Trucks, private cars from the region on business trips and tourists manage to trickle through the blockades that
have deepened in the last 48 hours
.
The claim of the Independent Health Workers of Neuquén.
They ask for a 45% increase
In the main cities of Río Negro and Neuquén,
fuel is scarce
and getting a tank filled to travel has become a kind of urban adventure.
The silversmiths themselves indicate to the drivers that their own stations or those of the competition have some reserves.
In Vaca Muerta, the pickets keep the site completely sealed.
The
losses amounted to USD 12 million a
day
.
Almost all drilling rigs are idle (18 out of 19).
The conflict will affect the Gas Plan and will
affect the winter
when the injection of fluid in the national network drops, say voices from the sector.
Clarín
spoke with sources from some of the main operators, who explained that the operators cannot reach the fields and that other senior employees are not allowed to enter the wells to carry out safety and maintenance checks.
There were companies that resorted to airplanes with the purpose of transferring their specialists to the wells that required observation and related work.
Few trucks are visible on the road.
There is a lack of fuel.
Companies monitor drilling and production areas through remote communication, but experts must still go to the source to confirm data and check safety regulations.
In some of the sites, located in the Vaca Muerta desert, about 100 kilometers from the main cities in the area, workers who were on their shifts were stranded and have not been able to return to their homes for more than two weeks.
This Friday, the general secretary of the oil tankers in Neuquén, Río Negro and La Pampa warned that his union would take
30,000 workers to the streets
if the routes were not opened.
In Cutral Co and Plaza Huincul, where the refineries are located, there are pickets at the entrance of both towns.
The situation, residents tell this newspaper, is reminiscent of the
towns of 1996 and 1997
, when the route was closed by the first picketers, former YPF workers.
In the paradores of routes 40 and 22 the drivers pass information between them on the state of the pickets.
"Patience, boys," says one who comes from Arroyito and goes to Bariloche to a family heading to Neuquén.
The conflict has paralyzed production in Vaca Muerta.
The waits at each cut are unpredictable.
Some can last for an hour or three.
The bus companies that link the entire northern region of Patagonia have restricted hours and only operate in the afternoon.
The
Clarín
envoys
did not meet any group in a four-hour journey and only with a dozen trucks.
The road looks
empty and apocalyptic
like in a Mad Max movie.
Talks
The government of Omar Gutiérrez has been in talks with ATE since Friday afternoon.
The secretary general, Carlos Quintriqueo, reported that they requested
a 45% increase
in the basic rate over the 15% they had already agreed to in March.
This 15% is precisely the one that exploded the conflict within the health workers who do not respond to ATE.
In any case, the health movement has already warned that ATE does not represent them and that
the pickets will not rise
beyond the agreement of the union 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 deposited last week.
But the health agents rejected that this would serve to free the routes.
Neuquén is standing still in at least 20 points, causing deep delays in the passage of trucks and a shortage of fuel and food.
In Zapala there are about 100 trucks waiting for days to continue their journey.
Another 100 have been seen in Villa La Angostura, the majority from Chile, heading to Punta Arenas.
The bridge that connects Neuquén Capital with Río Negro and the rest of the country has also been intervened and queues are the norm.
The towns of Añelo and Rincón de los Sauces remain
isolated
.
On Thursday and Friday, Chilean and Argentine truckers cut Route 237 in Villa La Angostura for a few minutes as a protest for not being able to advance.
There were discussions and insults with neighbors and individuals.
In this context, around 40 Gendarmerie agents opened the entry and exit pickets in the village for approximately one hour and this allowed the situation to decompress, but then the workers closed the fence again.
Nequen. Special delivery.
LM
Look also
Neuquén: The oil tankers union threatens to go out on the road to free Vaca Muerta from the pickets
The conflict in Vaca Muerta already accumulates losses of US $ 400 million