Newswire — Colombia’s state-run oil company Ecopetrol has reached a new collective bargaining agreement with its main workers union (USO), the company said in a statement early on Monday.The final agreement with the oil workers union will be effective for six years from January 1, 2026.
• Ecopetrol also entered into 66 final agreements with other participating labor unions, which include improvements in working conditions and enhanced health and education benefits, as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives. It did not give further details.
• Ecopetrol plans to file and fomalize the agreement with the Ministry of Labor in coming days, after which it intends to hold joint sessions with the union to explain the terms reached.
• USO launched a 24-hour strike earlier in June, in protest at what it called a deadlock in negotiations over the new collective agreement.
• The union had sought a pay rise equal to inflation plus 20% in the first year, followed by inflation plus 10% for each of the next four years, along with shorter working hours, according to sources within the company.
• Ecopetrol is one of Latin America’s largest energy producers and Colombia’s largest company, responsible for more than 60% of the country’s hydrocarbon production.
Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Kirsten Donovan – Reuters
