Two incidents inside the fishing unionwhich came out in the last hours, reflected the tension within the union, in a scenario in which the union is preparing for a tense general assembly next month.
The videos were posted by Informative Carve On twitter. The most recent is dated February 20. There you can see a person yelling at another who does not appear in the picture, and threatening her several times with a knife, while others try to contain him.
In the second, recorded on October 19, 2022, two men are seen entering a room and how one of them hits the other repeatedly until a third intervenes.
As reported by VTV and confirmed The Observerthe place of the events is the headquarters of the Single Union of Sea and Allied Workers (Suntma).
According to union sources The Observerthe context of that video is the internal disputes over the leadership of the union. The Suntma is led by leaders of the Group of 8, one of the minority currents of the PIT-CNT, and on April 30 it will have a general assembly where the new leadership will be decided.
The Observer consulted Suntma leaders, who excused themselves from speaking and argued that the two videos are about “personal topics”which have already been settled.
The Chamber of Fishing Industries of Uruguay (CIPU) denounced in 2022 that the union forces all new employees to join. “In Uruguay, in fishing, if you are not affiliated with the union, you do not work. That is the reality of fishing in Uruguay. It is an irregularity that has been going on for several years,” Juan Riva Zuchelli, president, told Radio Carve in 2022. of CIPU.
“The role of the union is important, but the union cannot decide who works. It cannot happen again,” Juan Curbelo, director of the ANP, said last year.
Complaints from business chambers
After the dissemination of the videos where the episodes of violence are verified, the Chamber of Fishing Industries of Uruguay (CIPU) and the Chamber of Fishing Shipowners of Uruguay (CAPU) issued a statement in which they expressed their “repudiation of the acts of violence what happened at the Suntma union headquarters”.
“Unfortunately we are not surprised by the published images since we hear daily from our workers and from people who want to work in the sector, who feel threatened and who feel afraid. The images of the disseminated material explain it very eloquently,” they maintain.
They also denounce that the union has a container “absolutely irregular within the Port of Montevideo”. “It is the same one that grants access passes to the port on a discretionary basis and without any control by the authorities.”
According to the statement published by the cameras, the companies have “repeatedly” denounced the irregularities they denounce, and they understand that they “endanger the security of the port area” as well as that of the workers. According to what they publish, in March 2022 the National Ports Administration was summoned to remove the container and “repeal the Suntma’s ability to manage port entry permits.”
“These are situations generated years ago and we hope that the current authorities urgently correct it, fulfilling their responsibilities for a safe port, in accordance with international PBIP standards (Ship Protection and Port Facilities).
It is not feasible to start a new harvest this year under these conditions that totally violate the rights of workers who want to work”, he concludes.
the word of the guild
From the Single Union of Sea and Allied Workers, Merchant sector, they also published a statement this Friday in which they also “repudiate the events that occurred within the union” in the Fishing sector. “In addition to being violent events that attack and threaten the physical integrity of people, They are isolated and personal events.which have nothing to do with the militancy of many colleagues who participate in the union every day”.
“The events that occurred They have nothing to do with political, union or labor issuesbeing the same, personal facts that unfortunately occurred inside the union premises and are totally repudiated”, they add and rule out that those involved were union leaders.
At the end of the communiqué, it adds: “Considering this unfortunate event and remembering the rich history of participation in the defense of rights and democracy that our organization has, we fight for a strong trade union movement with clear and beneficial objectives for the great majorities, the Violence is not the way, differences must be resolved through dialogue and arguments”.
