Several strikes, partial stoppages and workers’ mobilizations have been observed, which have been freed, albeit briefly, from the control of the union corporations, mainly the government’s Central Socialista Bolivariana de Trabajadores (CSBT). Although political confusion dominates the Venezuelan labor movement, there are sectors that have been filled with indignation and discontent, since the non-compliance with various offers from the government and public and private employers was added to the low wages.

In the Sidor steel company, the workers have been carrying out work stoppages led by assemblies. Initially, the workers resumed their work when the government and the union members convinced them to sit down at the well-known dialogue tables. But noticing that no response was given to their claims, the workers reactivated the stoppage of production. Sidor’s top management was present at the plants, accompanied by the National Guard and a representative of the Prosecutor’s Office, and they drew up a list of workers who had to present themselves to the Prosecutor’s Office and threatened to fire them if they did not resume their work.

The list of those summoned by the Prosecutor’s Office reached 50 names (basically from the Pellas Plant) and a summons was drawn up for these workers, who, in addition, were threatened with losing their jobs. Despite the fact that the Pellas Plant forcibly resumed its work, the "Plates and Billets" areas, as well as the "Wire Rod" and "Hot Rolling" areas, continued to be paralyzed.

To this is added the protest of an important part of the workers called "not required" who demand to return to their jobs, after almost two years under this figure that cuts their salary to 30% and who have been protesting in front of gate III of factory.

Throughout the Guayana region, workers have been agitated with wage claims and non-compliance with collective agreements. In that area of ​​Venezuela there is a large industrial park and a significant concentration of factory workers engaged in mineral extraction activities and in the processing of iron, steel and aluminum, among others. The main characteristic of the most recent protests has been that they have taken place outside or under the control of the unions and coordinated by workers’ assemblies.

The minimum wage in Venezuela barely covers 5% of the cost of the Food Basket, which at the end of May was 477.52 dollars per month. In other words, at the end of May, 18.99 monthly minimum wages (and pensions) were required to acquire a Food Basket of 60 products to meet the consumption of a family of 5 members. In many cases, the conflicts that some groups of workers have assumed have been limited only to requesting that the monthly payment of 130 bolivars be complied with, which at the time represented 30 dollars and in June represented less than 28 dollars. A small sector of the unions and the movements of retirees and pensioners has been calling for mobilization to demand a salary equivalent to the amount of the Basic Food Basket.

An important group of PDVSA workers from the "El Palito" refinery (Carabobo state) were sent home as a prelude to what could become a massive dismissal. But also a wave of bosses’ repression and terrorism has led to arrests and expulsions of workers accused of negligence and boycott of PDVSA Industrial’s operations. Among the workers a discontent accumulates that is contained with repression, political demagoguery and the servility and betrayal of the union leaders. Even so, some groups of workers have escaped the control of the unions and the employer and have staged some protest actions in which the participation of retirees and pensioners has been important.

Different sectors of the workers have also been mobilizing against the salary tables imposed by the government, which ended up leading to a salary reduction mainly among public sector workers. Likewise, there are many conflicts due to breaches of collective agreements and dismissals in public and private companies. Active workers, retirees and pensioners have been coinciding in these mobilizations.

As expected, the government’s anti-worker offensive has found no resistance among the union corporations, which disorganize, divide, demobilize and disorient the workers they claim to defend.