MARACAIBO, Venezuela—National Guard troops Friday took control of three Venezuelan oil rigs after hundreds of workers abandoned installations following protests that halted operations, union leaders told Reuters.
A group of some 400 workers protesting a plan by state oil company PDVSA to replace them with inexperienced personnel had symbolically tied themselves to the rigs, but walked away on Friday when PDVSA officials arrived to negotiate.
"The workers (being replaced) ... have between five and ten years of oil industry experience and now they plan to replace them with workers that have military training but no experience in oil operations," said union leader Bernardino Chirinos.
He said the replacements are civilian members of the military reserve that President Hugo Chavez has bolstered to defend his self-styled socialist revolution against what he calls an imminent U.S. invasion.
Chirinos said 740 workers have been left idle as a result of the protests on the rigs, located in the Lagunillas and Bachaquero areas along the eastern coast of Lake Maracaibo.
A PDVSA spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the situation.
The protests come as PDVSA is taking over rigs that had been contracted out to private companies, including Maersk and Ensign.
Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez earlier this year said PDVSA was "nationalizing" rigs in the Lake Maracaibo area, though a PDVSA official later clarified the company was simply ending operating contracts for rigs it already owned.
PDVSA is currently in stalled negotiations with union leaders over the renewal of a collective bargaining agreement that expired earlier this year.
Protesting workers accusing PDVSA of violating labor agreement this week blocked vehicles carrying employees to rigs in eastern Venezuela, though PDVSA and union spokesmen said the event did not affect operations.
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