37^th Meeting of the Latin American Executive Committee of the IUF

Gerónimo Venegas, general secretary of the Argentinean Union of Rural Workers and Stevedores (UATRE), took office this month in the important position of president of the IUF's Professional Group of Agricultural Workers. Sirel interviewed him to inquire about work plans.

-When did you find out that you would be appointed to this important position in the IUF?

-It was during the meeting of the IUF’s Administrative Committee in Stockholm, Sweden, in late October. IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald was the one who informed me of the decision.

-Are you prepared to take on this new task?

-I’m a union leader and I work very long hours in Argentina. When I started out in UATRE’s governing committee the organization had a membership of 15,000 workers. That number has now swelled to 800,000.

We’ve grown in every sense. Now I’d like to bring to this new international task the dreams I once had for my own union, and make them come true for agricultural workers around the world.

-What will you be focusing on in your work?

-One of the problems we have to address is that of the weaknesses that affect trade union leaders. We have to conduct strong capacity-building initiatives for these leaders and expand global membership.

I’m going to present these issues at the next meeting of the International Agricultural Executive Committee, because strengthening trade union leaders is a key element in solving the problems that affect workers.

Many of them have great initiative, they’re eager to do something, but we have to build their capacity to defend workers’ rights. And that’s also the best way to reproduce leaders for the future.

-What other issues do you plan to address?

-In Argentina we created a National Registry of Rural Workers and Employers, which has been a very important instrument that could be replicated in other countries.

In this sense, the IUF has to make the most of its capacity to work with governments.

Here in Colombia, for example, the national vice president, Angelino Garzón, asked the IUF to join him in the Decent Work promotion projects that are being implemented in agriculture, and I think that we have to make the most of this opportunity.

What are the most sensitive issues affecting the agricultural sector?

-The most sensitive issue is the situation workers are in. They are very vulnerable, and they are the poorest sector of the land.

Most agricultural workers are not unionized, and they lack decent working conditions and decent salaries. There are many cases of near-slavery conditions.

We have to change this, because in a world where everything has grown and where technology prevails, agricultural workers cannot continue to be the very last priority.

-What is your opinion on the issue of Food Security and Sovereignty?

-It’s governments who are responsible for implementing state policies to promote permanent development in all things related with Food Security and Sovereignty. Every nation has to be able to feed its people, it can’t depend on others, and it also has to protect its natural resources, including its soil and water, because we have to feed the people of today, but also the people of tomorrow.

-How do you assess the work at the 37^th Meeting of the IUF’s Latin American Executive Committee?

-It has been a remarkable meeting. We achieved an enormous amount of work, and I want to highlight the efforts, commitment, degree of organization, and the discipline of the Committee members, and in particular of the regional secretary, Gerardo Iglesias, and the president, Argentino Geneiro.

-What do you think are the main challenges faced by the IUF?

-The IUF faces a great deal of challenges, but one of the most important is its political insertion. There’s no labor solution or social solution without a political solution. Politics can be used to build or destroy. And we need to build.