Venezuelan oil unions demand payment in dollars as bolívar plummets

Venezuelan oil unions are demanding the government allow workers to choose between being paid in bolívares or U.S. dollars, as the official exchange rate climbs above 700 bolívares per dollar. The unions argue that the bolívar's continuous daily depreciation is decimating the value of incomes earned in the national currency.

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What we want is for there to be monetary duality, that there be the option to be paid in dollars or bolívares, that banks have dollars available

Iván Freites, general secretary of Fetraenergía, explained that the federation, representing 34 unions in the hydrocarbon, gas, energy, and related sectors, seeks monetary duality. "What we want is for there to be monetary duality, that there be the option to be paid in dollars or bolívares, that banks have dollars available" to pay workers.

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The incessant devaluation of the bolívar continues to pulverize the income of Venezuelan workers, retirees, and pensioners. The loss of purchasing power reflects a brutal fall of the national currency in recent months

Fetraenergía highlighted that the bolívar has lost approximately 43% of its value in just over two months. A $70 monthly pension, which in May equated to 34,268.50 bolívares, now only buys $48.95, representing a direct loss of over $21 in purchasing power. This erosion is exacerbated as salaries are paid at the lower official rate while consumer goods are priced at the parallel market's dollar rate.

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This represents a historic depreciation where the bolívar lost about 43% of its value in just over two months