The Executive Committee of the Single Port Union (Supra) decided to activate a 24-hour strike in the ports of the interior from the 7th hour of this Wednesday but it will not affect the operation of the Montevideo terminal. This was announced this Tuesday at a press conference by the leader of the Supra María Noel Ramírez.
On the morning of this Tuesday the 10th, an assembly of the union of workers de Montecon —the main operator of the public docks— did not accept the government’s proposal to unblock the conflict in the port of Montevideodue to the announcement of the dismissal of 150 company workers.
“It does not contemplate what the Supra expected. The workers ask to work; we are not asking for anything strange,” Ramírez said at the press conference. The Supra plans to submit a counterproposal to the Executive Power so that all the positions of workers (around 700) that are affected by the operation of the public docks are ensured.
The proposal, prepared by the Ministry of Labor (MTSS) and delivered this Monday, includes a special unemployment insurance for one year for the 150 affected workers, the intention to hire 77 employees to the Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP) company and to include the group within 50 vacancies that the National Ports Administration (ANP) has .
In addition, the Ministry of Transportation (MTOP) negotiated with the company that the layoffs be postponed for 90 days compared to the date that had been initially defined: May 20. However, the package of measures it was rejected “unanimously” by the Montecon workers’ union and its outsourced companies.
The union blames the dismissals on the agreement between the State and TCP for the concession until 2081because they understand that “generates a de facto monopoly” and “weakens the role of the ANP”They explained in a statement published on Monday.
The agreement states that the other port companies they will not be able to use the specialized terminal unless TCP cannot cover the demand. Since the agreement was made, Montecon went from operating 23 thousand containers to 11 thousand. After the departure of the company MSC as a client, Montecon decided to lay off 150 workers and reduce to 50% the salary of the employees that it maintains on its payroll.
Uruguayan exporters view with concern the increase in maritime freight costs that can occur due to the waiting of ships in the port of Montevideo if the conflict continues.
“The biggest problem occurs if the ships start to wait because the line up (vessel docking sequence) starts to get congested and the costs for delays start to increase. And those costs are paid by the country, because in one way or another they are paid by the entire logistics chain”had explained to The Observer Gabriel di Giovannantonio, manager of Cargill, a grain exporting company.
