In Uruguay, the fishing sector ends three months of strike
After nearly 80 days of strikes and paralysis, the Uruguayan fishing industry is struggling to get back on track. The sector's union accuses employers of refusing to increase staffing levels to improve working conditions. Negotiations resume without any concrete progress.
Nearly $50 million in losses, 2,000 workers out of work, and an entire fleet paralyzed. This is the toll taken by the 80-day strike in Uruguay's fishing sector, a social conflict of unprecedented magnitude that has gradually begun to ease since Thursday, August 14.
It all began at the end of May. The National Union of Maritime and Related Workers (Suntma) had urged shipowners to recruit more crew members in order to "guarantee more rest" for sailors on coastal vessels and thus improve working conditions deemed precarious, summarizes the specialized media Visión Marítima . The demand, supported by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, was, however, immediately rejected by the employers' associations, triggering a prolonged strike.
To justify their decision, the employers claimed that the required measures "were not provided for" in the 2024 collective agreement and that the vessels "did not have the capacity to accommodate additional crew members ." As a result, all fishing activities were "completely paralyzed," the same source said.
Now, according to the Uruguayan and Argentine press, the resumption of these activities
Courrier International
