Rebelión de saberes: Los operadores en la refinería de Puerto La Cruz

this article is testimonial. it recounts the experience of those employees of the puerto la cruz oil refinery who successfully resisted the general lockout in the oil industry from december 2002 to february 2003. amongst the group, there were mainly workers, a majority of them hired on a daily basis or from the lower echelons of the work force, together with a few from the higher echelons, a group with differing formations, abilities and accumulated experience but united in an effort to keep the industry running despite the call for a work stoppage, the pressures, the threats and the sabotage. the interest of the authors is to analyze this group and their experience within the context of the particular culture of the corporation. the mere fact that this group resisted the enormous pressure to paralyze the industry served to show others that it was possible to continue working, resist the attempts to paralyze pdvsa and thus contribute decisively to defeating the lock out.