The general secretary of the National Confederation of Independent Trade Union Unity (Conusi), Marcos Andrade, specified in statements to Prensa Latina that the pressure measure could begin in about 20 days after the deadlines given in those talks, whose objective is to improve conditions of the workers.
Capac does not react properly to the significant reduction in the purchasing power of workers in the face of the accelerated increase in the cost of living and the basic food basket, due to galloping inflation, first with Covid-19 and now aggravated as a result of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, he asserted.
Faced with these just demands, Andrade pointed out, on the contrary, the oligarchy’s media outlets accuse the workers of demanding exaggerated wages and try to confront us with public opinion.
The strike will not be the solution to the problem, he said, we are also called to take to social networks to spread our message and defend the basic rights of builders and their families.
The day before, Capac issued a statement about the unsuccessful conclusions of talks with representatives of the Single National Union of Workers in the Construction and Similar Industries (Suntracs), in which the wage issue is the cause of differences.
The talks on the 2022-2025 Collective Labor Agreement began in September of last year, with the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development as mediator.
For Capac, the wages of the builders are the highest in the productive sector and should consider the current state of the economy and the industry hit by the pandemic.
That business association offers a wage increase of 0.7 cents an hour, while Suntracs demands it be 70 cents an hour for the next four years.
One of the Suntracs leaders present at these talks, Genaro López, told the television channel TVN that “it is not fair that the prices of construction supplies have risen and the employers pay them, but when the worker asks for a salary increase then it is a problem”.
This Friday, coinciding with another rise in the prices of gasoline and diesel, the Suntracs board of directors will listen to the criteria of the negotiating team and then in the General Assembly they will decide on the national strike.
On Twitter, the union published before that they have arranged all the necessary routes and proposals based on the socioeconomic reality. “The salary increase is necessary and fair. And on that premise, our fight walks”.
Prensa Latina also learned of the call for a people’s march, convened by Suntracs on March 17, which will depart from the central Belisario Porras park, in this capital, to the National Assembly (Parliament) to present to the legislature the list of these and other demands.
For its part, Capac asserted that in more than 40 years it has negotiated about 10 Collective Agreements for the benefit of both parties, without any significant conflict having occurred due to lack of agreement on the established terms.
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