Uruguay
Political clashes over the setting of minimum services at the container terminal at the port
Javier García questioned the government's response to the conflict at TCP and spoke of serious damage to operations and the country's image. Gustavo González defended the right to strike, rejected essential services and pointed the finger at the company.
The Executive Branch’s decision to establish minimum services at the container terminal of the Port of Montevideo, amid the conflict between Terminal Cuenca del Plata and the workers’ union over the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement, opened a political clash between the governing coalition and the opposition.
According to Subrayado, National Party Senator Javier García said the measure adopted should not be analyzed as a semantic issue and defined it as a softened form of essential services. In his view, the key issue is the starting point of the conflict, which, he said, has already caused significant damage at the port, to the country’s image, competitiveness and production.
García said that over the past eight months there has been one strike per week, with nearly 40 days of stoppages. He also called for work to restore activity at the port and the image of the maritime terminal, which, he said, now appears as a conflictive setting. He also criticized the government for what he considered a late response and for not properly assessing the damage.
For his part, Broad Front Senator Gustavo González said, according to Subrayado, that the solution defined for TCP was an intermediate path and stressed that essential services were not decreed. In that context, he blamed what he described as a handover by the previous administration for the extension of the terminal concession to Katoen Natie until 2081.
González accused the company of maintaining an intransigent stance and of promoting a campaign against the workers. He also defended the right to strike, recalling that it is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic. In his view, a declaration of essential services would have been very harmful both for the Broad Front government and for port workers and would have worsened the situation at the port.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
