News online
Argentine maritime unions pledge solidarity with striking workers
18 September 2008
Argentine seafarers and fishers have promised to join strike action carried out by a fellow union, if their employers, a group of freezer fishing companies, attempt to replace the workers.
The workers, represented by the ITF-affiliated maritime union Sindicato de Obreros Maritimos Unidos (SOMU), and employed by Argentinean freezer fishing companies indefinitely suspended tug services to Maersk and Hamburg Sud from noon on Wednesday this week. Maersk and Hamburg Sud transport containers of fish for export from Mar del Plata. The SOMU is demanding that Argentinean freezer fishing companies recognise their union.
The Sindicato de Electricistas y Electronicistas Navales, Centro de Jefes y Oficiales Maquinistas Navales and the Centro de Patrones y Oficiales Fluviales de Pesca y Cabotaje Marítimo – all ITF affiliates – have declared that they will join the strike if there are any attempts to replace SOMU members.
The strike follows years of fruitless negotiations between the freezer fishing companies and the SOMU, which has been requesting recognition and a bargaining process. The military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 abolished the SOMU’s collective bargaining agreements. Fishery companies have since continued to deny workers in the industry their rights under specific legislation, which unions say violates International Labour Organization Convention 154 on collective bargaining rights, ratified by Argentina in 1993.
Omar Suarez, General Secretary of the SOMU, commented: "For years we’ve made complaints about the non-fulfilment of the national and international regulations and labour conventions for seafarers, fisheries and dockers. Likewise, we have reported that many fisheries are run under conditions of near enslavement; however we have not had any response from employers or the government of Argentina. This suspension of towing services will continue until the union is recognised and a negotiation procedure is in place to protect seafarers, fishers and dockers. We are not against the idea of companies making profits, but we are convinced that workers deserve a fair share."
Back to current news online stories
|
view larger image
