Chavez Emboldens Venezuelan Workers with Takeover Precedent

[Joanne98]

President Hugo Chavez has set a precedent that emboldens workers and worries businesses by nationalizing Venezuela's largest steel maker in the middle of a sometimes violent labor dispute.

Left-wing Chavez ordered the takeover this week of the sprawling Ternium Sidor steel plant -- his latest move to put what he calls strategic industries in the South American oil nation under state control.

For months, workers had demanded the government step in to end a dispute over pay and pensions that had led to strikes and clashes with police in which a union leader was shot in the leg.

Chavez's decision now opens the door to increased pressure to resolve labor disputes and could create headaches for the private sector and the government, which is a major employer.

His vice president, Ramon Carrizalez, said "the worker comes first" in Chavez's Venezuela.

Jubilant workers at the Argentine-run Ternium Sidor (TX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) complex on the banks of the Orinoco river celebrated, cheering and chanting in front of state television cameras as they expected the government to quickly meet their pay demands.

"What is going to happen with the rest of the unions in Guayana?" asked a former minister in Chavez's economic cabinet, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Others could be inspired to ask for the same."
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3357