Brazil offshore oil workers threaten strike

SAO PAULO: Brazilian oil workers on more than 40 offshore platforms are threatening to go on strike next week unless state-run oil firm Petrobras gives them an extra day off at the end of each 14-day stint.

Analysts say the threat of a 5-day strike is one factor in the latest spike in global oil prices.

Union spokesman Marcos Breda said Friday that the workers want time spent leaving the platforms after two-week shifts to be considered a working day for which they should be compensated with a day off.

Breda says close to 2,000 offshore oil workers in the Campos Basin that produce more than 80 percent of Brazil's oil output are scheduled to begin their strike on Monday.