Development: On 12 November dozens of employees from the Caracas metro took to the streets in Venezuela's capital to protest against “unjustified dismissals”.
Significance: The latest protests against the government led by President Nicolás Maduro are part of a coordinated plan agreed by unionists at a recent summit. The protest serves as the latest reminder of discontent on the part of unions as increases in wages fail to keep pace with rampant inflation.
- Juan Ovalles, the president of the association of Caracas Metro pensioners and retirees (Ajupemeca), told reporters that he had asked the president of the Caracas Metro, Major General César Vegas, to stop the sackings. Ovalles did not specify how many metro workers had been fired although the local press is reporting that it could be around 60. Metro workers are also complaining about the state of the infrastructure, warning that the service is suffering due to the lack of resources for its maintenance.
- The protests by metro workers was agreed at a summit held on 9 November which was attended by union leaders and over 1,000 workers. Those present included: Keta Stephany, the director of the Venezuelan federation of university professors (Fapuv); Rubén González, a director of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Ferrominera (SintraFerrominera) steelworkers union; Eduardo Sánchez, from the union of workers from the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV); Pablo Zambrano, director of the health workers union Fetrasalud; and José Bodas, head of the oil workers’ union Federación Unitaria de Trabajadores Petroleros de Venezuela (FUTPV).
- Also present was Deillily Rodrígez, a former union leader of the Caracas metro who was reportedly fired at the end of October in what workers suggested was a reprisal for her complaints of poor working conditions.
- Fetrasalud's Zambrano was cited by the local press as saying that dismissals are not just taking place in the metro but in other institutions.
- With pro-Maduro supporters recently taking to streets, blaming employers for the dire situation facing workers, anti-government protestors blame Maduro’s recent package of economic reforms for their dwindling salaries. Last August the minimum wage was raised to the equivalent of about US$30 a month (at the official exchange rate), an insufficient amount to cover basic necessities amidst hyperinflation and food shortages. Even before President Maduro unveiled his latest economic plan, monthly inflation was 223% in August, according to the opposition-controlled national assembly (AN), giving a year-on-year rate of 200,005%.
Looking Ahead: According to the protest agenda announced by Sánchez at the recent summit of unionists, protests will take place today (13 November) at the ministry of higher education. On 14 November, a press conference will be held at the Hospital Universitario de Caracas public hospital, with a national march scheduled for 27 November.
