MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mar del Plata union requests lifting of measures banning offshore oil drilling

If offshore hydrocarbon exploration is successful, it will bring on enormous development for Mar del Plata, the union considered

The Mar del Plata branch of Argentina's General Labor Confederation Union sent a note to the Courts requesting all precautionary measures stopping offshore oil exploration be lifted so that the companies can start working in the North Argentina Basin.

 They also said Judge Santiago Martin was biased: “We believe that Judge Martin has a position against hydrocarbon activity and he will continue with his requests for studies and information” for all eternity, the letter read.

Regarding the environmental issue, the CGT insisted that “we are the first ones concerned about the care of the environment and to sustain and improve the tourism industry in our city. For this reason, we have asked for all the explanations and safeguards in terms of labor and environmental safety, and the answers have been clear and forceful.”

The note also highlights the union's stance concerning an information exchange process among the Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, the National Secretary of Energy, the Ministry of the Environment, YPF technicians, and local businessmen.

The CGT also recalled that during a public hearing in Mar del Plata, “all the opinions were absolutely concurrent: If offshore hydrocarbon exploration is successful, this will mean an enormous opportunity for economic, scientific and social development for our city, for the Province and for the country.”

“As representatives of the 77 unions that make up our organization, we have come to request that our voice be heard by the judges. We do not intend to enter into the technical-legal debate of the file, which is not our field of competence. We express ourselves from the experience of fighting for those who do not make ends meet with their salary and for those who do not even have a salary, and dream with the hope of getting a job,” the letter submitted to the Court of Appeals went on.

The CGT also requested that ”just as Judge Martin considers the opinions of Greenpeace and the Surfers Association, we hope that he will consider the opinion of those of us who represent 77 organizations and more than 200,000 affiliated workers