Gustavo Bazzan
07/19/2020 - 17:50
- Clarín.com
- Economy
- Economy
The blockade of the Truckers' union to the distribution centers used by Mercado Libre sparked an interesting discussion at various points. All with a focus on labor-related issues .
Without surprises about the methodology that Truckers use to claim affiliations to their labor agreement, other voices appeared that, directly or indirectly, made a rich contribution to the debate.
Pablo Moyano spoke of the alleged exploitation conditions that must be accepted by the workers who are carrying out their tasks today under the labor agreement that Mercado Libre negotiated with the Loading and Unloading union. Special mention for the video that circulates where the entrance by members of Truckers to one of the blocked centers is observed. Traced scene of the moment when hundreds of Iranians invaded the United States Embassy in Tehran , in November 1979.
It was not only Mercado Libre that questioned and rejected Moyano's accusations. Also the head of the Loading and Unloading guild, Daniel Vila, who described the conditions of workers, monetary and labor.
Vila spoke of pocket salaries above 50,000 pesos, a bonus of almost 47,000 pesos negotiated with the company for the extra tasks that the pandemic forced and an interesting point: in the distribution center that Mercado Libre operates in the Central Market 1,300 employees work , most of them in their twenties , 40% women, who access a supplement for childcare, and in many cases they are living their first work experience, and moreover, a formal one . Vila expanded the description: "they live in the bottom of La Matanza , and the company is in charge of bringing them and taking them to and from their homes, training them in logistics operations and in the English language."
This description of the work profile of its affiliates that Vila makes fits perfectly with a definition that the economist Daniel Heynmann expressed in the interview that Clarín published this Sunday .
Heynmann points out: “The contribution of this sector ( technology companies and unicorns ) is very important . Represents 10% of exports. But it does not macroeconomically satisfy future demands. We need the field, industries that employ labor in volume, sectors that provide technological advances and services that take low-skilled workers . "
- What role does macroeconomics play in all this?
- Put together a framework of consistency so that all these activities can work. A model in which the young entrepreneur and the humblest neighborhood boy live together. That it produces growth but that it is tolerable distributively and at the same time bankable.
The appeal to the "low-skilled workers" and the "humblest neighborhood boy" fits perfectly with what the unionist Vila describes and with the job proposal that Mercado Libre has at the Central Market Distribution Center.
Let's call Moyano and others "labor relations analysts", it seems unworthy, and before a neoliberal cut labor flexibility, that a logistics employee does not have fixed hours and days of rest, and that the workload is not even throughout the month.
It would be interesting to see, in the face of Moyano's objections, how a boy “from the back of La Matanza” reacts when they offer him a blank job at the Mercado Libre distribution center.
President Alberto Fernández said "not be very aware" of the conflict between Truckers and Mercado Libre. But it is known that he praised the Moyano in public. Perhaps he did not even know that Heymann is an adviser to Minister Martín Guzmán.