Brazilian oil workers have walked off the job for 72-hours, just as a crippling nationwide truck drivers' strike is coming to an end.

Employees stopped work on Wednesday, despite the country's highest labour court declaring the strike illegal. </s> Brazilian oil workers have begun a 72-hour strike on the heels of a crippling nationwide truck drivers' strike that has started winding down after 10 days.

The country's two main oil workers' unions say the strike was called to demand lower fuel prices and the resignation of Pedro Parente, president of state-owned oil company Petrobras.

The strike began Wednesday in defiance of Brazil's top labor court, which declared it illegal and said the unions will have to pay a daily fine of 500,000 reals (about $135,000).

According to the Oil Worker's Federation, the strike has halted production at refineries in six states.

Petrobras said in a statement that contingency teams were operating production units where the strike prevented shift changes from taking place. </s> SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil’s solicitor general’s office and state-led oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they were asking the country’s top labor court for an injunction to halt a planned oil workers’ strike.

Unions representing oil workers say they will start a 72-hour strike on Wednesday. That would wreak further havoc on Latin America’s largest economy, already paralyzed by a nine-day nationwide truckers’ strike against an increase in diesel prices.

In a written statement, the solicitor general’s office said the planned oil workers’ strike was “political” and not labor-related, as workers were demanding the resignation of Petrobras chief executive officer Pedro Parente. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Brazilian oil workers have begun a 72-hour strike on the heels of a crippling nationwide truck drivers' strike that has started winding down after 10 days.

The country's two main oil workers' unions say the strike was called to demand lower fuel prices and the resignation of Pedro Parente, president of state-owned oil company Petrobras.

The strike began Wednesday in defiance of Brazil's top labor court, which declared it illegal and said the unions will have to pay a daily fine of 500,000 reals (about $135,000).

According to the Oil Worker's Federation, the strike has halted production at refineries in six states.

Petrobras said in a statement that contingency teams were operating production units where the strike prevented shift changes from taking place.

Workers pedal their bicycles past a banner with a message that reads in Portuguese: "Get out Parente", in reference to Pedro Parente, the president of the state-owned oil company, at the entrance of a Petrobras refinery during a strike in Duque da Caxias, Brazil, Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Brazilian oil workers began a 3-day strike to demand a drop in the price of cooking gas. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) </s> Brazil's government says it has reached an agreement with the main truck drivers' union to end an eight-day strike.

Fuel and some food items are in short supply as many drivers continue to protest. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian oil sector workers began a three-day strike on Wednesday (May 30) in at least eight refineries, but were not expected to disrupt fuel supplies as the country started to recover from a devastating truckers' protest.

The strike, which is demanding the resignation of Petrobras oil company CEO Pedro Parente, went ahead despite a ruling by Brazil's highest labor court that it was illegal.

Unions also want an end to state-controlled Petrobras' market-based pricing policy, put in place in 2016 by centre-right President Michel Temer as part of his attempts to open up Brazil's sluggish economy.

"Oil workers are on strike. Those who thought we wouldn't fight against abusive pricing for fuel were wrong," Tezeu Bezerra, coordinator for the Sindepetro Norte Fluminense union in Rio de Janeiro, said in a statement to the workers.

The protest was sparked by discontent over high fuel and cooking gas costs in Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy.

Disruption was expected to be minimal, but unions said a much larger strike may be held next month.

"We can guarantee that these 72 hours will not see supply problems because the refineries have full tanks," the oil workers' federation said in a statement. "This strike is not being held to hurt society but to open a debate."

The federation said that if demands were not met, an indefinite strike could be called in mid-June. "This is a warning strike," it said.

Angered by rising diesel prices, the nation's truck drivers launched their own work stoppage 10 days ago and succeeded in shutting down much of the country's economy.

Supermarkets ran out of fresh food and entire cities were left without functioning gas stations. Even though the truckers' strike is now over, the aftershocks are still being felt through national supply chains.

The oil workers' federation said their strike was being observed at eight refineries and partially at a ninth, with three other non-refinery plants also affected.

The turmoil over the last week has seen Petrobras' share price make wild swings, rising 14 per cent higher on Tuesday on the Sao Paulo exchange, but trading flat on Wednesday.

Markets are concerned that the pressure will prompt Temer to roll back Petrobras' pricing autonomy.

However, Temer's government issued a statement saying it was "committed to the financial health of Petrobras, a company which has recuperated from the serious crisis of the last two years under Pedro Parente's management."

"We will continue to keep the pricing policy at Petrobras," the government statement said.

On Sunday, Temer bowed to pressure from the truckers when he agreed to cut the diesel price by 0.46 reais a litre for 60 days.

Diesel costs had risen from 3.36 reais (US$0.92) a litre in January to 3.6 reais before the strike. On May 26, the price hit 3.8 reais per litre.

Brazil's average oil output was 2.62 million barrels per day in 2017. </s> Brazilian oil workers began a 72-hour strike on Wednesday in a new blow to President Michel Temer following a nationwide trucker protest that has strangled Latin America's largest economy for over a week. The strike affecting several rigs, refineries, plants and ports is the latest challenge for state-led oil firm Petrobras, whose shares have tumbled nearly 30% in two weeks over fears that political interference would unwind more investor-focused policies.

The oil sector strike included workers on at least 20 oil rigs in the lucrative Campos basin of 46 operated by Petrobras, as the company is known, according to FUP, Brazil's largest oil workers union. Petrobras said any disruption would not have an immediate major impact on its production or overall operations.

Brazil produces about 2.1 million barrels of oil per day, making it Latin America's largest crude producer.

The oil strike was declared illegal by Brazil's top labor court on Tuesday, after Petrobras argued it was about politics rather labor issues. FUP said it had not been informed of the

 ruling.

According to a sources, Petrobras has a significant stock of fuel on hand, especially as a 10-day protest by truckers prevented significant amounts of fuel from leaving refineries. However, the strike has raised the specter of protests spreading to more sectors as Brazilians vent frustration with an unpopular government and an uneven economic recovery.

The truckers' highway blockades and resulting fuel shortages have already halted major industries and hammered exports of everything from beef and soybeans to coffee and cars.

 FUP said on Wednesday that workers did not show up at work at eight refineries stretching from Manaus in the Amazon to Rio de Janeiro in the southeast. They also walked off the job at plants handling lubricants, nitrogen and shale gas, as well as in the ports of Suape and Paranaguá.

Initial information points to the workers having adhered to the strike at various locations, FUP said in a statement. The movement is continuing through the morning, when stoppages at other Petrobras units are expected.

Unions representing oil workers said they were demanding the resignation of Chief Executive Pedro Parente. They also want the end of a market-based fuel pricing policy and other changes at Petrobras since Temer took power in 2016.

Adding to turmoil at Petrobras, the firm said on Wednesday that board member José Alberto de Paula Torres Lima had resigned, citing personal reasons. He was one of three board members recruited by an outside agency and added to the board in April in an effort to establish its independence.

FUP union leader José Maria Rangel said on Tuesday the Temer government and Parente's policies were delivering Petrobras up to foreign investors, while the shipyards of Rio de Janeiro are closed as unemployment remains near record levels. </s> SAO PAULO, June 14 (Reuters) - Oil workers at state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA have begun a strike in eight Brazilian states as part of nationwide protests against a government pension reform proposal, umbrella union group FUP said on Friday.

Workers at nine refineries including Reduc in Rio de Janeiro state and Paulínia in São Paulo state were participating in the strike, which also affected a Petrobras port terminal in Pernambuco, and a fertilizer plant in Bahia, FUP said. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A 72-hour strike by Brazilian oil workers halted refineries and rigs on Wednesday, union leaders said, a new blow to President Michel Temer on the heels of a trucker protest that has strangled Latin America’s largest economy for over a week.

The strike by workers demanding changes at state-led oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA is the latest challenge for the company known as Petrobras, whose shares have tumbled nearly 30 percent in two weeks over fears that political interference would unwind recent investor-focused policies.

The economic and political storm has shaken the lame duck Temer government ahead of October elections and rattled nerves about the path forward for Petrobras, Latin America’s biggest oil producer.

It has also raised the specter of protests spreading to more sectors as Brazilians vent frustration with the unpopular government and an uneven economic recovery.

With truckers protesting over high diesel prices, government sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Temer had been considering scrapping a market-based fuel pricing policy at Petrobras. But by Wednesday morning the president’s office issued a statement saying he would preserve the policy.

The oil sector strike included workers on at least 25 of the 46 oil rigs Petrobras operates in the lucrative Campos basin, responsible for nearly half of Brazil’s petroleum production. FUP, Brazil’s largest oil workers’ union, said that seven of those rigs were paralyzed. Petrobras did not respond to requests for confirmation.

Petrobras said before the strike that the disruptions would not have an immediate major impact on its output or overall operations. Brazil produces about 2.1 million barrels of oil per day.

According to a source close to the company, Petrobras has a significant stock of fuel on hand, especially as the 10-day trucker protest prevented significant amounts of fuel from leaving refineries.

The truckers’ roadblocks and resulting fuel shortages have halted major industries and hammered exports of everything from beef and soybeans to coffee and cars.

Steelmaker Cia Siderúrgica Nacional SA, Brazil’s second-largest iron ore exporter, declared force majeure for its mining products due to disrupted supplies of diesel, explosives and food to it mines.

The 10-day trucker protest left major cities running short on food, gasoline and medical supplies, and officials warned it would take days to restore supply lines.

The automakers industry lobby Anfavea said car assembly plants halted since Friday will start up again on Monday.

Public Security Minister Raul Jungmann said the numbers of roadblocks that exceeded 1,000 at the height of the strike had fallen to under 200 by Wednesday night.

“Brazil is returning to normal,” he said at a news conference where he accused owners of transport companies of taking part in what he called a “lockout.” The companies have been slapped with 272 million reais ($73 million) in fines.

An oil worker points to a patch on his shirt that reads: "We are not for sale", near the entrance to Petrobras Alberto Pasqualini Refinery, in Canoas, Brazil May 30, 2018. REUTERS/Diego Vara

Moody’s Investor Service warned that it will take weeks for operations to return to normal in sectors from meatpackers and automakers to airlines and retail.

OIL WORKERS TARGET PARENTE

FUP union said workers did not show up to work on Wednesday at 10 refineries stretching from Manaus in the Amazon to Rio de Janeiro in the southeast. They also walked off the job at plants handling lubricants, nitrogen and shale gas, as well as in the ports of Suape and Paranagua.

The oil strike was declared illegal by Brazil’s top labor court late Tuesday, after Petrobras argued it was about politics rather than labor issues. FUP leader Jose Maria Rangel said by phone that the union “will not be intimidated” by judicial decisions, and called the three-day strike a “warning.”

“Our members have already approved us declaring a strike without a fixed end date,” the union said, without providing details on when any longer stoppage may take place.

Unions representing oil workers said they were demanding the resignation of Petrobras’ chief executive, Pedro Parente. They also want the end of the market-based fuel pricing policy and other changes made at Petrobras since Temer took power in 2016.

Petrobras said on Wednesday that board member José Alberto de Paula Torres Lima had resigned, citing “personal reasons.” He was one of three board members recruited by an outside agency and added to the board in April in an effort to establish its independence.

Petrobras did not respond to questions about his departure.

Slideshow (28 Images)

Parente, on a Tuesday conference call with analysts, said Petrobras was taking action so that any strike would have minimal or no impact on production and operations.

The company flexed its muscles a bit by announcing on Wednesday that it would raise gasoline prices at refineries by 0.7 percent starting Thursday. </s> SAO PAULO: Oil workers at state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA have begun a strike in eight Brazilian states as part of nationwide protests against a government pension reform proposal, umbrella union group FUP said on Friday (Jun 14).

Brazil's pension reform bill is aimed at restoring public finances and reviving a flagging economy, but is fiercely opposed by some sectors of society for raising the minimum retirement age and workers' contributions.

Workers at nine refineries including Reduc in Rio de Janeiro state and Paulínia in São Paulo state were participating in the strike, which also affected a Petrobras port terminal in Pernambuco, and a fertilizer plant in Bahia, FUP said.

On the Campos basin in Rio de Janeiro, workers were keeping operations to a minimum, it added.

In Brazil's largest city São Paulo, public transport was disrupted as subway workers adhered to the strike, affecting train schedules and closing some stations, local media reported.

Road blocks and demonstrations in streets and highways in and around São Paulo, including burning tyres close to the city's international airport, have also been reported.

As well as seeking to block changes in public sector pensions, FUP said, the oil workers were protesting against "the privatisation of the Petrobras system".
Oil workers in Brazil start a 72-hour strike, amid the ongoing truck drivers' strike.