150 workers of the Montecon port company have been out of work since Tuesday, the company announced to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) on the afternoon of the day, while the remaining 245 workers will see salary reductions of up to 50%. .
The Single Port Union and Related Branches (Supra) also warned that “the number of layoffs in the outsourced companies of Estibas, Albilan and Bidol has not yet been quantified” and that “this is a severe blow to port activity, and therefore to all port workers, just as we have been denouncing it from the union since the Government – Katoen Natie agreement became known”.
The president of the Montecon workers’ union told Montevideo Portal that the MTSS notified them of “the 150 dismissals and the restructuring of working conditions,” which includes the reduction from 25 to 15 working days per month for the rest.
“We have been denouncing this for a year and a half and until now everyone has told us that the agreement between the government and Katoen Natie was going to be favorable for the country and for the workers. In this case we have evidence of ship delays that are not being considered,” he argued.
“The agreement says that there can be no delays of more than 24 hours and we have ocean ships with 60 hours of waiting outside the port, and there are Paraguayan barges – which was one of the points that everyone touched on in 2018 when they left for Argentina – that they are with 140 hours of waiting. Right now, the Josamo barge is four days late waiting to be serviced by Terminal Cuenca del Plata”, he continued.
