The shops and houses of Mexico City and the State of Mexico have dawned this Tuesday with the reserves of liquefied petroleum gas (LP gas) at a minimum.
The gas workers union has called on its workers to go on strike without prior notice in protest at the freezing of maximum prices of this gas by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CFE) after a pronounced increase in its cost in the last months.
"The necessary operating conditions are not in place for this emergency directive for the welfare of the consumer," the union's directive has detailed in a statement.
The owners of businesses that depend on this gas have filled social networks with complaints about the lack of supply.
"I hope this is solved, because if not tomorrow without gas I will no longer be able to work," wrote Israel Antillano on Twitter.
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) estimates that 79% of Mexican homes use LP gas as the main fuel for daily life.
For its part, the gas workers union defends the strike due to the lack of attention from the authorities to "take care of their assets", since the price of LP gas has dropped considerably this week in different regions of the Republic.
More information
The price of domestic gas and food keeps inflation on the rise in Mexico
Today is my day of loading lp gas in my business, every week I consume 70L.
As it turns out that all gas companies have been unemployed since yesterday, they are not supplying gas to businesses thanks to the fact that @ lopezobrador_ wants to lower the cost of gas as a result of #GasDelBienestar.
One time
- Israel Atilano (@ IsraelAtilano3) August 3, 2021
On August 1, the CFE published the first table of the maximum prices applicable to gas that will be in force until next day 7. The average cost decreased 10.8% in all regions of Mexico and in Mexico City the fall of the price plummeted 24.1% to 21.3 Mexican pesos per kilo of product. Ricardo Sheffield, the federal consumer attorney, warned the gas companies that if they did not respect these new prices, they could lose their distribution license. At a press conference, he assured that his department would be vigilant to "take care that no one goes overboard" and that prices are respected in the 32 states. "We continue working to protect consumers' pockets," he posted on his social networks that same day.
The strike is an expected reaction to the approval of the CFE to impose weekly caps on the price of gas in each region based on the costs of importing, marketing and transporting the fuel, as well as the profit margin. “The intervention of this Commission is necessary to regulate and promote the efficient development of activities related to the distribution and sale to the public of LP gas, stopping the excessive increase in prices (...) and guaranteeing the protection of the interests of the users ”, read the presentation of the project.
The gas carriers, who have seen their income drop substantially, have warned that the general strike could be extended to other states.
In Hidalgo, the trucks that distribute gas accumulated on the Avenida Centenario de la Revolución in the municipality of Tulancigo as a sign of protest at the entry into force of the CFE prices, which leaves them with hardly any commission per sale.
In the municipality of Texcoco, almost 30 kilometers from the capital, the service stations have not opened and have joined the strike.
In the State of Mexico, the images of three destroyed pipes in the parking lot of the Lomas Gas company have been a reflection of the dispute between consumers and suppliers.
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