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    Uruguay

    EN DIÁLOGO
 

With Felipe Carballo

IUF Latin America participates in Meat Industry Forum

“Inclusion, innovation

and work for all”

  

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.

 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.

 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.

 

 

From Montevideo, Carlos Amorín

Rel-UITA

June 2 2011

 

 

 

 

Photo: Rel-UITA

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  UITA - Secretaría Regional Latinoamericana - Montevideo - Uruguay

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