The dockworkers in Corrientes, in the north of Argentina, have blockaded the port installations as a protest measure against the attitude of the company Chaco, SA. The company dismissed eight workers who were members of the trade union SUTAP while they were complaining about working conditions in the port.
The outlook is grim in the river port of Corrientes, on the frontier with Paraguay, with accounting scandals, lack of safety and hygiene, trade union harassment, labour instability... The International Dockworkers Council (IDC), which represents more than 50, 000 dockworkers from all over the world, has showed its full support for the actions of the Argentinian dockworkers.
The workers have announced that they will keep the port blockaded until the company undertakes to enter talks with the trade union. In fact, the conflict in the Argentinian port of Corrientes has been going on for almost six months. When SUTAP decided to complain to the authorities about the alarming situation in which the dockworkers were working, the manager of the company Chaco, SA, Juan Manuel Rosas, sacked eight workers, the “Corrientes Eight,” without any compensation. Since then, the SUTAP has led an international campaign to demand that the Company reinstate the dockworkers and meets its workplace health and safety commitments.
However, despite the numerous shows of support received from other workers in Corrientes, the company’s attitude has not changed one jot. Not only does it refuse to reinstate the trade unionists, but it also continues to operate using conditions verging on slavery. The replacements for the “Corrientes Eight” come from the neighbouring province of Chaco, and are driven by poverty and a lack of opportunities, a situation which Juan Manuel Rosas is taking advantage of with total impunity.
The IDC completely rejects the attitude of the company Chaco, SA, which will only be counter-productive for the interests of the port of Corrientes and for those of the province as a whole. The growth of a port cannot be based on people being exploited, but rather on a fluent dialogue between businesses and workers, and constant re-investment in workplace training and safety.
