65-year-old boats and working conditions "18th century": the complaint of the fishing union

On May 29, the CIPU denounced shots and threats in the port of Montevideo, as found The Observer.. Also, warned that the National Administration of Ports (ANP) this breaching international treaties relating to the protection of ships and port facilities and the ordered to prohibit the circulation of members of trade union organizations not linked to the activity.

The main demand of the businessmen refers to the access and circulation cards to the port area that the Board of Directors of the ANP granted in 2009. According to the director of the CIPU, the union does not have legal status, so the entry of people should not be authorized. linked to it that are not related to port activity.

“Who guarantees the actions of these people? Although the companies are authorized to request and issue these permits before the ANP, we respond to them, but the union does not. This has generated that minorities can be in the port 24 hours”, affirmed a director of the CIPU.

The source reported that by “unknown reasons” the decision is made to stop a ship and those who do it are people “that they don’t even man it”. In turn, the crew do not dare to leave out of fear. “White weapon; there were shootings, there are armed people. There is constant drug dealing and theft”, he denounced.

The CIPU director also recalled an issue that had already been on the public scene: the Suntma established that workers who are not affiliated with the union cannot work in the port.

There are no shots in the port, the union indicated

Alexis Pintos, president of Suntmasaid to The Observer that this type of incident in the port “they are not currency” as they maintain from the CIPU. “Shipowners are in an office and do not know what the port is. They do not know it because they do not approach their boats, so what we feel is that it is part of the continuous media attack against the union and unions in general.”, he expressed.

Pintos referred particularly to the video that was posted along with the notein which shots are heard and a man can be seen lying on the ground in the port, and that the CIPU expressed that it was common currency. The union leader explained that this was an isolated event that occurred in 2020 and that “It was already settled by the Justice”.

“It is a video from 2020. The one who fired the shots is an officer from the Prefecture and the problem that occurred has already been resolved by Justice. The person who entered the port paid jail time and the Navy official was also sanctioned for his actions, so we are surprised that they use that video, “he said.

And he added: “I had to experience the situation because I was at the port at that time. We had to assist the person who was left lying, we were the ones who put him in the ambulance and we had all that bad time.

According to Pintos, businessmen have denounced “very cowardly” to the union as a result of different problems for which they had to appear before the National Naval Prefecture (Prena) and in “none of the complaints were about firearms”.

“Yes, there have been problems with other workers, but never with threat of firearms. The port area is governed by the maritime authority, which is the pressure. Our container is attached to the Prefecture. Everything that happens there is under their surveillance. So, point blank, saying that we are armed and that there are shots in the port… all these things have to be proven“, he claimed.

driving permits

According to Pintos, the current procedure for granting access and circulation cards in the port area for trade union organizations was not “something magical” but was “granted by the ANP” (in the framework of the Board Resolution 722/3512 of 2009) and said that, unlike what was stated by the CIPU, the union organization does have legal status and responds to any possible problem that arises in the port area.

“Both the Prena and the ANP warn us, sanction us, intimidate us and talk to us immediately because we are responsible for access to the port”, he pointed.

The companies that intimidate the ANP to remove the union’s circulation permits take as a basis the International Code for the Security of Ships and Port Facilities (ISPS). It is included in Chapter XI – 2 of the International Convention for the Safety of Human Life at Searatified in Uruguay by Law No. 14,879 of April 23, 1979, which was amended by Law No. 17,504 of June 18, 2022.

In this sense, from the CIPU they warn about “the risks, possible damages that this situation may cause” Due to the “irregularity in terms of lack of controls and security”.

Pintos stated that the ISPS code “it is made for terrorism in ports”. “The businessmen’s view is that workers are terrorists and I believe that it is a very obtuse and very biased view of things.“, said.

When asked about the statements of the Suntma leader Roberto Cardozowho had answered affirmatively to the question of whether the union does not allow those employees who are not unionized to workPintos clarified that they were statements “quite unlucky” and that he understands that the interview – conducted by Carve – “It was very driven to that point.”

“We have a high membership but not that 100% of the port workers are members. There are companies and ships where people work who are not affiliated”, he said and added: “that you cannot circulate if you are not affiliated is a total lie”.

Analia Pereira

poor working conditions

The president of Suntma denounced that the workers in the fishing sector “are not in a box, they do not have a bathroom and they do not have adequate clothing”.

Pintos also affirmed the conditions in which the boats are. “I heard a businessman appear on several programs saying that they want to work 300 days a year. The reality is that he cannot, not because of the union but because the boats are not in good condition. The fleet is around 60-65 years old each ship, for us it is a roulette every time we get on the ship. We know we went out we don’t know if we’re going to come back, ”he explained.

The union leader also showed “surprise” when the companies aim to fish 300,000 tons a year, since that is “just a wish” because “in the conditions in which the boats are, it will never come to that”.

Pintos indicated that the boats are “in disuse” and that “they couldn’t sail, they couldn’t even float”. In turn, he said that the “high labor conflict” of the sector “is generated by the same employer” who understands that “fishing has to be a harvest, work six months and the other six months they put an employer lockout when they want”.

“The reality of the fishermen is that we are in conditions of the 18th century. The type of work, the working conditions that we have are from the 18th century and they do not go out to talk about that reality of fishing”, he expressed.

Carla Coleman

Pintos maintained that the “high unionization” – what is a “issue” for businessmen – answers that the Suntma is “an unemployed union” because it has “650 jobs for 1,500 machinists”. This makes the unioncover what the State and society do not cover” via pots of food for the unemployed, tickets so they can move around and go look for work, and shelter campaigns.

“We have a high membership because andhe best sponsor that the union has are the employers who do not pay you on time, the boats that are obsolete, that they are always wrong for them, that they want us to work under any conditions and, as always, the profit has to be through the adjustment to the workers and the salary”, he pointed out.

In any case, the president of the Suntma also valued that today there are “some multinational companies” yes “they are betting on the sector” and that they have had “a good approach” in the understanding that “they must all work together”.

“We are here to put everything that has to be put on the part of the workers so that the sector improves, but it is not only the union. Good will has to be everywhere and the conflict decreases as long as each one does what they have to do”, he expressed.