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Transport workers mobilise for a fair, safe integration process in Mercosur
14 March 2007
Yesterday transport unions in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela organised the Mercosur Railways and Road Transport Day of Action at three border points on occasion of the International Railway Workers' Action Day.
The Mercosur Action Day campaign was planned by the unions at one of the meetings of the ITF-FES education project "Facing inland transport challenges in Mercosur" last year, coordinated by the ITF regional office.
More than a hundred union leaders participated in different actions at the frontiers of
• Argentina-Brazil: Paso de los Libres/Uruguaiana
• Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay: Iguassu Falls Area
• Brazil-Venezuela: Boa Vista/Santa Elena de Uairen
This campaign issued a joint pamphlet distributed among transport workers and the general public to call attention to the importance of trade union participation in the policy discussion of Mercosur governments. The campaign included stickers, T-shirts and posters with a common logo that can be downloaded from the link below.
"I am really pleased to be part of this campaign to enhance the workers’ participation in the policies adopted by Mercosur countries", said Francisco Caro, ITF Coordinator in Argentina and UTA leader on the Argentinean side of the Iguassu area.
Workers discussed problems such as police corruption, the lack of washrooms at border crossings, and other health and safety issues.
"We are working towards the unification of transport workers’ unions in Paraguay to be strong enough to make our government understand the importance of the participation of transport unions in Mercosur agencies. We will work jointly with our brothers in Argentina and Brazil, and with Venezuela as a new member", explained Percio Duarte, president of USTT-Paraguay,to fellow workers at the Brazilian bus terminal of the Iguassu area.
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