The National Association of Officials of State Casinos (Anfuce) is in conflict. This was assured to El Observador by its president Julio Píriz after holding a meeting this Tuesday —which lasted for about three hours— within the framework of the National Labor Directorate (Dinatra). The president of Anfuce participated in this instance accompanied by two representatives of the Confederation of Organizations of State Officials (COFE), on the other side was the National Director of Casinos, Gustavo Anselmi, with two lawyers from the General Directorate of Casinos (DGC) who tried to mediate with the union to achieve the reopening of the Maroñas casino room located in Geant Parque Roosevelt.
The negotiations did not bear fruit and, in the operation, The Geant room will remain closed, while the other rooms that stopped their activity in solidarity with the Geant workers will return to their activity starting this Wednesday at their usual hours.
The room without air conditioning in the middle of a heat wave was the main trigger for the casino workers located in Roosevelt Park to decide to advance the conflict. “They offered us to lift the measure and as a first magic solution from seven to 10 days they would be putting some alternative air conditioning equipment to improve the environmental conditions of the room,” described Píriz and continued: “the Geant’s companions decided to continue with the measure until Let the air conditioning be ready.”
On all other points related to the building situation of the room, an agreement would be reached once the measures are lifted, “that will happen when the conditions are right,” emphasized the president of the workers’ union.
The measures of force that they can implement in the future will be discussed in an assembly that they will hold during the afternoon. While, Anfuce raised a proposal so that all the rooms in the country are visited and evaluated by the DGC together with the union. This will also happen once the conflict in the Roosevelt Park room is resolved.
The conflict
Last Sunday, March 5, the workers of the casino located in Parque Roosevelt and managed jointly between the General Directorate of Casinos and HRU—Codere Group representative in Uruguay— They decided to leave their jobs due to their poor working conditions. The main claim lay in the lack of air conditioning whose impact was aggravated by the heat wave that is plaguing the country.
“There is also the unfortunate state of the premises, of the working conditions: it rains in the room, spare parts for the machines are not provided, nor is the machine park renewed, which by contract must be renewed 5% every two years,” Piriz described. and argued that the private company has not complied with these conditions in any of the rooms that the HRU company shares with the State.
Sources from Codere Uruguay told El Observador that in response to the conflict that the officials are carrying out in the Parque Roosevelt room, on Friday, March 3, representatives of the company together with authorities from the General Directorate of Casinos were present at the place in order to evaluate the thermal conditions of the room. After the analysis, it was concluded that the conditions were adequate for the correct performance of the tasks, drawing up a notarial deed in which the observed records were recorded.
On that occasion, the company representatives conveyed to the DGC authorities their willingness to collaborate in whatever is within their reach, in order to reach an agreement..
According to the union leader, the responsibility for the conditions of the halls lies with the private company and it is the responsibility of the General Directorate of Casinos to control and monitor the state of the halls, and he clarifies that the officials are not requesting any benefit or salary increase. “Everything has to do with working conditions and the public,” emphasized the president of the National Association of State Casino Officials.
