Pemex: Congressman to sue company for labor laws violation
Pemex sees offshore platform deaths suit
A Mexican congressman said he will file suit against state-owned Pemex before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, contending that violations of labor laws have led to 116 deaths on offshore platforms in the past four years.
Cuauhtemoc Velasco, a member of the Energy Committee in the lower house, said the suit would be filed jointly with the United Front of Merchant Marines, which comprises 14 unions representing employees of Pemex contractors in the Gulf of Mexico.
Velasco, who made his remarks during a meeting with that labor federation, said the suit would be filed in Washington and within a period of three months, said an EFE Mexican news agency report.
The lawmaker said that between January 2005 and May there have been 33 accidents resulting in 116 deaths, 294 injuries and $87 million in losses at oil installations and platforms.
He said that at the Campeche Sound, one of Mexico’s main oil producing areas, 70% of productive activities are carried out by private firms without oversight by Pemex or other federal agencies.
Velasco noted that non-compliance with security measures has resulted in accidents such as one on the Usumacinta oil platform in October 2007 that left 23 workers dead and 65 injured.
He said Pemex sub-contracts work out to companies that violate labor laws, fail to adhere to safety requirements and pay wages that are lower than those received by those working for the state oil company.
The legislator said the lawsuit to be filed before the Inter-American Court is based on international treaties signed by Mexico regarding compensation for labor accidents, union freedom and protection, forced labor, social security, benefits in the event of on-the-job accidents and illnesses and the safety and health of employees.
He added that, according to the International Labor Organisation, the party that must assume responsibility for the deaths at oil platforms is the operator, whether that company is the owner or the concessionaire.
Velasco added, therefore, that in this case the suit is directly aimed at Pemex and that only in a secondary sense will the Mexican government’s departments of labor and transportation be targeted.