Lima — Workers at Peru’s state-run oil company, Petroperu, launched a 72-hour strike on Monday to protest a plan to privatize parts of the firm, though the company asserted that operations remained normal and the government has declared the walkout unlawful.
At least 30% of the company’s 2,200 unionized workers had joined the strike by Monday morning, according to Jose Luis Saavedra, general secretary of the administrative workers’ union.
“The speed with which the government wants to privatize Petroperu is striking,” Saavedra told Reuters by telephone.
However, Petroperu said in a statement that all its facilities were operating normally and guaranteed that the national fuel supply would not be affected.
The company added that Peru’s labor ministry had ruled the strike call “inadmissible,” though that decision is subject to a three-day review. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The labor action comes in response to a plan approved in late December by President Jose Jeri to overhaul the financially troubled company. The plan aims to attract private investment into key assets, and Economy Minister Denisse Miralles said last week that the first management contracts with private firms could be signed as soon as June.
Petroperu is saddled with massive debt, having received up to $5.3 billion in government aid between 2022 and 2024 to stave off bankruptcy. Part of its financial burden stems from its new Talara refinery, an approximately $6 billion project that began operations in 2023.
The government’s investment agency has said the refinery is one of the assets that could be opened to private investment or offered as a concession.
Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Sarah Morland – Reuters
