Argentine workers at grains port set to strike - unions

BUENOS AIRES, May 20 (Reuters) - Argentine port and oil
workers are set to strike over the coming days, unions said on
Friday, threatening grains exports and crude production as they
seek salary hikes amid rising tensions between the government
and unions.
However, a local port chamber said that the protest should
have a minor impact on the country's main grain port area of
Rosario.
Port workers have called for a 48-hour strike to start
Saturday at 9 a.m. at all the country's ports, potentially
crimping exports in the grains powerhouse.
"We're going to stop trade," said Julio Gonzalez Insfran,
head of one of the unions calling for the industrial action at
the nation's ports.
However, according to the Chamber of Port and Maritime
Activities, the strike will have very little impact on exports
from northern Rosario's districts.
The northern area of Rosario, made up of San Lorenzo, Puerto
General San Martin and Timbues districts, accounts for 80
percent of Argentina's grains exports. In this zone,
multinational companies like Bunge Ltd BG.N , Cargill
CARGIL.UL and Louis Dreyfus Commodities BV AKIRAU.UL have
crushing plants and ports.
"Except for a few specific situations, in general we
shouldn't face problems with our activity during the weekend" in
Rosario, said Guillermo Wade, who heads the chamber.
Argentina is the world's top exporter of soymeal livestock
feed, the third-biggest exporter of raw soybeans, the fourth-
largest exporter of corn and an important supplier of wheat.
Port workers are seeking a 32 percent wage increase as
inflation has eaten into consumer buying power. Argentina's
government is targeting an inflation rate no higher than 25
percent this year. Private economists expect consumer prices
will rise 35 percent.
The unions representing oil and gas workers in Argentina's
Rio Negro, Neuquen and La Pampa provinces said that workers will
start a 24-hour strike on Monday, hitting the main hydrocarbon
producing areas in the country.
Workers in the oil and gas sector are demanding a 40 percent
salary increase and say they are protesting President Mauricio
Macri's decision to veto a bill intended to stem job
losses.
The strike will hit production at the sprawling Vaca Muerta
shale formation in Patagonia, where state-controlled company YPF
YPFD.BA is operating.