Grain shipments in the ports of Rosario were paralyzed this Monday due to a 24-hour strike carried out by the Urgara grain receivers union, as confirmed by the Chamber of Port and Maritime Activities (CAPyM).
The protest began in the first minutes of Monday and is part of a inter-union claim for a conflict over a port in the city of Buenos Aires and for the Income Tax that is applied to workers’ salaries.
the strike “It is affecting absolutely all the ports (of Rosario), they are all stopped as a result of the Urgara strike”Guillermo Wade, manager of CAPyM, told Reuters, adding that the measure prevented “the loading of ships”.
Argentina is the world’s leading exporter of soybean oil and meal, the third largest in corn and a key supplier of wheat.
The claim for a reduction in the so-called “Income Tax”, which is deducted from wages, affects the purchasing power of workers at a time when annual inflation reached 104.3% in March.
“The strike will last all day and will continue during the week with more stoppages,” warned the Maritime, Port and Naval Industry Federation of the Argentine Republic (FeMPINRA) in a press release.
“On Wednesday, the measure of force will be at the terminals of the Ports of Buenos Aires and Dock Sud and in the Zarate-Campana corridor and on Friday, at the Río Santiago Shipyard. Other surprising union actions are expected during the week “, added.
The measures will affect the necessary entry of foreign currency into the country, after the Government renegotiated the Central Bank’s reserve accumulation goals with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within the framework of an agreement for a loan of 44,000 million dollars that the agency granted the country.
A union source, who asked not to be identified, said that If an official response to the claims is not received, the conflicts are going to escalate and the National Ministry of Labor has already exhausted the instances of negotiation, so it will not be able to call for mandatory conciliation.
Source: Ambito
