The Board of Directors of the Regional Union of Light and Power of Patagonia, expanded with the secretaries of Sections of the provinces of Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, resolved this Friday to declare the “state of alert and mobilization” throughout the territorial area. and empower the Board of Directors to adopt “all Union Action measures conducive to preserving the legitimate personal and collective rights of the Workers we represent”, in addition to “notifying the Administrative Labor Authorities of the Provinces of Tierra del Fuego of this Resolution.” Fuego; Santa Cruz and Chubut, and to the respective Competent Authorities.”
The announcement was made through a harsh document issued by the main leaders of the Union of the three provinces, who met for two days in the city of Trelew
The document indicates that it is an “inalienable responsibility of the Regional Union of Light and Power of Patagonia in defense of the interests of the Workers it represents, and upholding that conviction in the exercise of its powers, always taking into account our part, the support of Social Peace, and considering the generally weak state of the system for the provision of Essential Public Services in our geographical jurisdiction of action and on behalf of our affiliates in the provinces of Tierra del Fire; Santa Cruz and Chubut”.
It also considers “the difficult and complex economic, financial and operational situation that the Cooperatives, Companies and/or Provincial Departments are going through, both in the Generation, Transmission and/or Distribution stages in the provinces of Tierra del Fuego; Santa Cruz and Chubut “. And he adds that “the policies carried out by the National Government to eliminate almost absolutely any type of subsidies to Electric Energy Rates inevitably means that many users of the different categories in which they could be classified, will not be able to assume the payment of their respective invoices for the services provided and see their situations even more compromised, with the widespread dismissals of Workers”.
In addition, “the paralysis of Public Works and the list of companies to be privatized indicated by the national government,” details the Luz y Fuerza document. “This will inevitably cause the Cost of Energy Distribution to be left without financing throughout the provinces of Tierra del Fuego, Santa Cruz and Chubut,” and this situation “becomes more complex and aggravated depending on the dispersed and diffuse composition of tariff tables, caused by the lack of willingness of the different actors in the system, to frame the operation of the Companies, Provincial Departments, Generators and/or Distributors of the provinces, in a single and common regulatory framework that fully respects the established tariff principles in the corresponding regulatory framework”.
“In various cities of the provinces in which the Electricity Distribution Service is provided by Cooperatives of Essential Public Services and/or Provincial Departments, as well as the Generation, serious divergences are currently registered between them and the Municipal Concessioning Representations, as well as by Provincial Departments, generating conflictive situations in which, with different arguments, the mechanisms of tariff updates and/or recompositions are severely altered, severely affecting the economic and financial sustainability of the respective Cooperatives, Companies and/or Provincial Departments, while; to the point of placing them on the verge of their ability to sustain their operational functioning and, therefore, compliance with their contractual obligations”.
Luz y Fuerza warns that “if each of these situations is not resolved quickly and adequately, the inability of the Cooperatives, Companies and/or Provincial Divisions of Essential Public Services to assume the obligations and responsibilities under their charge, with respect to the personnel, will inevitably be generated. and/or Workers who fulfill functions in them, which will undoubtedly alter Social Peace in the electro-energy sector.”
In conclusion, “it appears that we are in a true Serious and Profound Emergency of Essential Public Services, with million-dollar debts and tariff delays, many of them facing their Granting Representations at all levels, be they Provincial and/or Municipal, composing a situation that generates an imminent risk in each community. It is pertinent and necessary to warn both the responsible authorities, and the communities as a whole, of the seriousness of the situation that the system of provision of Essential Public Services of the communities is going through. Provinces of Tierra del Fuego, Santa Cruz and Chubut”.
“It is the decision of the Board of Directors of the Regional Union of Light and Force of Patagonia to exercise the responsibility and the non-delegable power that the representation of the Workers included in the personal and collective scope of our Union Organization gives us, taking to the ultimate consequences the unrestricted defense of the Collective Labor Agreements 625/11 and/or other Collective Agreements agreed and signed, and/or regulations that are applicable within the framework of labor relations of our activity, in each and every one of the Provinces”, concludes the hard document of Light and Force.
