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To: Les H who wrote (193191)	9/22/2002 10:15:18 PM
From: stomper	Respond to of 436258

Possible Strike by Oil Workers Could Rattle Mexico Economy By DAVID LUHNOW Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL MEXICO CITY -- In a politically charged standoff with President Vicente Fox, Mexico's giant oil-workers' union is threatening an unprecedented strike that could rattle the country's oil-dependent economy and disrupt supplies to the U.S. While many analysts think the scheduled Oct. 2 stoppage seems unlikely, the chances of a walkout appeared to grow after tens of thousands of oil workers protested around the country in recent days. The show of strength sent shudders through the country's financial markets and helped push the Mexican peso to a nearly four-year low against the dollar. The peso closed Friday at 10.295 per dollar. State-owned Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, is the third-largest exporter of crude oil to the U.S., sending about 1.6 million barrels a day to its free-trade partner. Mexico's government, meantime, relies on oil exports for about one-third of its revenues. The next few weeks could prove critical to Mr. Fox's ability to control large sections of Mexican society that, like the oil workers, still owe their allegiance to the former Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which Mr. Fox defeated in 2000. Facing down the 90,000-member union may also cost Mr. Fox the support of the PRI for his plans to allow greater foreign investment in Mexico's electricity sector -- support he desperately needs to pass the initiative in a divided Congress. On the surface, the standoff is about the union's demand for a 15% wage increase. The government has offered 5.5%, slightly above the inflation rate for the past year. But political observers say the real reason behind the threat is the Fox administration's high-profile pursuit of union leaders on charges they helped funnel at least $150 million to the PRI's losing candidate in the 2000 presidential race. The standoff intensified earlier this month when Mr. Fox's government asked Congress to lift congressional immunity from PRI senator Carlos Romero, the union's boss; fellow senator and union finance chief Ricardo Aldana; and another union official serving in the lower house of Congress. All three men have denied any wrongdoing. Oil workers have not walked off the job since Mexico nationalized its oil wells in 1938. Under the PRI, a strike was unthinkable because union leaders have always been prominent party members. But under Mr. Fox, who once advocated privatizing the company, relations have soured. Mr. Romero says Mr. Fox is carrying out a witch-hunt to cover up his intentions to sell Pemex to foreign oil companies -- a charge Mr. Fox denies. Write to David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com Updated September 23, 2002