In Bolivia, it is illegal for any employer to discriminate against a
portion of its workforce by creating two-tiered labour conditions. Yet
every day, approximately 300 contract workers at the Gualberto
Villarroel oil refinery in Cochabamba, Bolivia find themselves at on the
bottom end of a blatantly two-tiered labor system.

While the contract workers have short-term contracts ranging from 3
months to 2 years, the workers who do mostly supervisory and managerial
work have permanent contracts.

The contract workers are paid poverty wages ranging from 500-800
Bolivianos/month ($62.50-$100 USD/month), the permanent workers are paid
salaries ranging from 7,800-90,000 Bolivianos/month ($975-$11,250
USD/month). And while the permanent workers are unionised, when the
contract workers formed their own union, the Sindicato Mixto de
Trabajadores Gualberto Villarroel, the leaders and most active members
of this union were fired. To date, 32 union leaders and workers have
been fired and remain without jobs.

When the first wave of firings took place 8 months ago, the Gualberto
Villarroel refinery was owned by Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run
transnational corporation. The workers petitioned the government and
after months of being ignored were finally told that things would change
once Evo Morales’ MAS government took control of the refinery. More than
two months have now passed since the government purchased the refineries
on May 11th and absolutely nothing has changed. The MAS government
continues to violate its own law by maintaining the two-tiered working
conditions at the Gualberto Villarroel refinery.

In the last two months, the Gualberto Villarroel contract workers have
written formal letters to MAS government officials asking for a meeting
to make their demands heard. Later, they went to La Paz to ask in person
for a meeting. Every attempt at contact has been ignored by the MAS
government. On July 9th, they sent one final letter to both the
Hydrocarbons Minister and the president of the state-run oil company,
the YPFB (which now controls the Gualberto Villarroel refinery), warning
that they will take direct action if their demands continue to be ignored.

Many of the fired union leaders and workers have resolved to go to La
Paz and begin a hunger strike at a set time early next week to force the
government meet the following demands:

1.All fired union leaders and workers must be immediately rehired.

2.The national labor laws prohibiting two-tiered working conditions must
be respected.

3.All temporary contract workers must be signed to permanent contracts.

4.The right to unionize must be respected.

The fired union leaders and workers of the Gualberto Villaroel oil
refinery, asks that union leaders and workers assist them in their
struggle by sending solidarity letters of protest to the following
Bolivian government officials:

Evo Morales, President of the Republic of Bolivia:
Email: presiden...@caoba.entelnet.bo

Carlos Villegas, Hydrocarbons Minister:
Email: hidrocarbu...@hidrocarburos.gov.bo

Guillermo Arequipa, President of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales
Bolivianos (YPFB):
Email: webmas...@ypfb.gov.bo
Fax: (591-2) 2356540 - 2373375

Please send copies of the letters to:
Email: citboli...@gmail.com

so they can be displayed publicly by the Gualberto Villarroel contract
workers during their hunger strike.

In Solidarity,

Union leaders of the Sindicato Mixto de Trabajadores Petroleros
Gualberto Villarroel:

Angelo Saldias, Secretario General
Ladislao Aguilar, Secretario Relaciones
Edwin Higueras, Secretario Conflictos
David Barrancos, Secretario Organización
Jose Soto, Secretario Actas
José Estevez, Secretario Hacienda
Jaime Ledesma, Secretario Deportes
Richard Saavedra, Secretario Vivienda
Fernando Mogro, Vocal 1
Wilsdon Mejia, Vocal 2
Marco Rocha, Vocal 3