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Carballo has a
long history with Rel-UITA (IUF Latin America), dating back to when he was an
orange harvester in the Uruguayan department of Salto, where he founded trade
unions and denounced the savage exploitation and massive contamination suffered
by workers. Today he is a national legislator elected to the lower house of
congress on the governing party’s ticket. SIREL spoke with him about his
initiative to organize the “Uruguayan Meat Industry Forum,” to be held in
Montevideo on Thursday, June 2.
-How did the
idea of organizing this Forum come up?
-In early 2010,
I presented a proposal in the Parliamentary Industry Committee (which I am a
member of) to tour the country with the aim of learning first-hand about the
state of Uruguay’s industries. This resulted in our visiting meatpacking plants
in various parts of the country.
During the
months we toured the country, the sector was experiencing a very difficult
situation, with practically every week bringing news of more and more workers
out of work and on unemployment insurance, while at the same time a deal was
secured to export large quantities of live cattle to Turkey, and other
problems were raising great concern.
This situation
generated negotiations between workers, business operators and the government,
in which our committee participated along with members of another parliamentary
group, the Legislation and Labor Committee.
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We
need to address the issue of a better distribution of wealth in a
sector that has seen a significant growth in wealth. A few years
ago, a ton of meat cost US$ 1,500. Today it costs US$ 4.000 |
This was how we
developed the initiative of opening up a space for the exchange of ideas between
all the stakeholders involved in this activity. This initiative has now taken
shape in the form of the Uruguayan Meat Industry Forum, organized with
contributions from the National Meat Institute (INAC), the Ministry of
Livestock, Agriculture and Fishery (MGAP), and unionized workers, in
particular members of the Frigorífico La Caballada Trade Union.
-Who is
participating in the Forum?
-National
President José Mujica has confirmed his participation, along with
representatives from seven ministries, cattle ranchers, meatpacking plant
owners, and workers.
-What are the
Forum’s objectives?
-The aim is to
generate input for a political debate that will enable us to move forward in
finding solutions for the sector, and above all to give congress a lead role in
an issue that is highly important for Uruguay, towards developing the
public policies that this activity needs.
-The sector has
now overcome last year’s critical situation, so much so that it is one of the
highest earning sectors in the country...
-And that’s
another aspect we need to address: how well wealth is distributed in a sector
that has seen a great growth in wealth as compared to previous years.
A few years
ago, a ton of meat cost US$ 1,500. Today it costs US$ 4,000. There have been
heavy investments in the sector for some time now, and while they’re mainly
foreign, they’ve spurred the sector’s activity. In the Forum we are obviously
going to hear different and even conflicting views, but that’s exactly what will
enrich the exchange. We might be able to agree, for example, on a trigger clause
that is activated when a given international price per ton is reached, to spread
the extra earnings more widely.
Moreover,
approval of the Public-Private Participation Act is well underway in congress,
and this Forum will be a good opportunity to discuss with producers ways in
which the sector could use these new legal frameworks in the sector.
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If
we add up all the workers in the sector who are receiving
unemployment insurance from the state we would have enough workers
to mount a large meatpacking plant with a workforce of about 2.000 |
If we add up
all the workers in the sector who are receiving unemployment insurance from the
state, we would have enough workers to mount a large meatpacking plant with a
workforce of about 2,000.
We also want to gather input to
find ways to add value to meat products, so that processing is not limited to
simply cutting up the animal and packing it straight for export. We need to find
ways of generating more jobs and more income for Uruguayans.
-Why was
Rel-UITA invited to this activity and what is expected of our organization?
-We have known
for many, many years how well the IUF works both nationally and
internationally. We know that it works closely with the workers in our country’s
meatpacking industry and how it supports them through international solidarity
efforts.
We have also
received information on several instances of exchange and meetings that
Rel-UITA has organized in this sector. The most recent example of this is
the meeting held last year in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which resulted in
the establishment of the
Coordinating Body of Mercosur Meat
Industry Workers.
Rel-UITA
will contribute its experience along with dozens of organizations from the
region that represent the sector, and such contributions are always welcome.
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