The Chamber of Fisheries Industries of Uruguay (CIPU) and the Chamber of Fishing Shipowners of Uruguay (CAPU) They warned that the sector, currently mostly paralyzed, will not be able to return to activity and refused to start labor negotiations within the framework of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS).
“Taking into account that the response of the Executive Branch to the proposals made by the business sector to confront the fishing crisis does not modify the current situation and that it represents the economic unviability of the sector, CAPU and CIPU consider that the conditions in a general sense are not met to resume the operabilitybeyond the decisions made by each company,” says a joint statement published this Monday.
The business centers added that for this reason it does not make sense to start a labor negotiation in the MTSS, described as a “bridging collective agreement” with the unions.
The fishing chambers, which have been putting pressure on the government of Luis Lacalle Pou to initiate several regulatory changes in the activity, maintained the strong tone against the Executive by holding it responsible for “signing the death certificate of fishing in Uruguay”, recalling that at least 60% of the fleet is paralyzed and that more than 2,000 jobs were affected.
Specifically, CAPU and CIPU denounce the unviability of the activity outside the harvest due to the high costs and demand that the government make some changes that collaborate with a lowering of costsamong them modifying decree 233 of 2009 by which a bonus retirement calculation for fishing workers.
There is also a demand to return to a scheme of contributions for fictitious contributions – as was done at some point – and not for the real salaries of the workers. Another point refers to the accident premiums of the Insurance Bank (BSE)which are noted as among the highest in the country.
Fishing permit costs Dinara, the transformation of fines into warnings and equalizing the conditions of costs and operations in ports and docks are other issues put on the table by the fishing chambers.
For their part, workers in the sector warn of the “delicate situation” in terms of income and availability of employment, while maintaining the existence of ulterior motives on the part of companies, such as obtaining tax benefits, eliminating subsidized retirement or even bring the activity to zafrality Permanently.
Source: Ambito
