Venezuelan Union Demands Car Insurance and Video Games

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Ah Venezuela, glorious Socialist motherland whose proud people stand in line for milk and use apps to search for toilet paper and whose glorious nationalized companies are producing about as well as you expect.

The steelmaking company at the core of the Ciudad Guayana project, Sidor, produced a record 4.3 million tons before it was nationalized by Chávez in 2008.

Today, most of its furnaces sit cold, deprived of raw materials, new technology and reliable labor.

Because… Socialism. The unions have some perfectly reasonable demands.

Maduro officials say their proposed Sidor contract is generous, with salary increases that will more than double workers’ compensation over the next two years. It accommodates some rather extraordinary union demands: perks such as auto insurance for workers’ personal vehicles and millions of dollars to buy holiday gifts for their children, with special union committees to pick out the video games, dolls and stuffed animals they want.

Why aren’t they signing a contract? Because they’re getting paid anyway.

Despite repeated strikes and work stoppages, the government has continued to pay salaries at the aging plant, including for more than 2,000 union officials who draw wages but don’t produce an ounce of steel.

Still, with annual inflation in Venezuela topping 60 percent, steelworkers say their quality of life has plummeted. They lay the blame on government corruption and mismanagement by know-nothing military officials whom Maduro has placed atop state companies to ensure loyalty.

While there isn’t much steel coming out, both sides are denouncing each other as puppets of Western imperialism.

“They want to impose this contract on us to defeat our union and clear the way for their neo-liberal adjustment plans,” said Mario Valor, a union delegate, accusing the government of attempting to divide and conquer Venezuela’s workers in preparation for austerity measures.

National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello — Venezuela’s second most powerful figure after Maduro — has denounced union adversaries at Sidor as “mafias” in the service of U.S. “imperialism,” offending many of the workers who consider themselves Chávez loyalists and true patriots.

Maybe Chavez can return to Maduro in bird form and guide him through this mess. Or he can just let China take over.

  • http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/ Edward Cline

    Well, if this isn’t echoes of what happened with Rearden Steel in “Atlas Shrugged.” When Rearden went “on strike” and disappeared, a government thug took over the company and began to strip it clean. The Rearden mills finally died and went cold. The country wound up having to accept as a gift a few thousand tons of steel from Guatemala. End of story.

  • Pete

    China has a lot of hot money. So they put into a lots of things in order to maintain its’ value such as real estate. The real estate has not been very successful as shown by the ghost cities. So Chinese investors will jump at the chance to invest in Venezuela.

    China would not readily allow the steel mill to be re-nationalized just because some Venezuelan politician wants to get votes by promising nationalization.

  • Pete

    Not related to this article, but…

    ISIS kill women’s right activist for ‘apostasy’ when she criticised them on Facebook for being religious bigots

    Total crap!

    It makes a difference whether you roll back evil immediately or dawdle along and get to it eventually.

    It matters in terms of lives lost or ruined.

  • wileyvet

    Chinazuela. Has a nice ring to it. Move over Maduro and let the professional commies show you how it’s done. Amateur.

  • Well Done

    Union rhetoric is tired and stupid. Tragic, but one has to laugh… especially when you see how adamant these dimwits are that their BS makes sense.

  • Hard Little Machine

    I don’t see a problem. They need to jam the throttle to the stop pin on this.

  • http://www.dilbert.com scook84

    I like that suggestion, “Maybe Chavez can return to Mauro in bird form and guide him through this mess”.

    Oh! What a dump that will be!

    “Incoming!”

    <3 Muah!