07/12/2020 - 17:47
- Clarín.com
- Politics
A week ago, at zero hours on Monday the 6th, the SOMU launched a general stoppage of activities throughout the fishing sector against the intention of the business chambers to rediscuss the salary agreements of the sailors of the fleet of vessels that fish and freeze prawns on the high seas. In all this week that neither party passed - neither companies nor union - they requested conciliation from the Ministry of Labor and the fight continues to escalate, in another chapter of the "Prawn War".
As denounced this Sunday by the Chamber of Shipowners and Freezers of Argentina (CAPECA), the Argentine Patagonian Chamber of Fishing Industries (CAPIP) and the Council of Argentine Fishing Companies (CEPA), the SOMU keeps the entrance of trucks that They want to unload shrimp at the Puerto Madryn processing plants.
"34 trucks have already been blocked, 500,000 kilos of shrimp, " which began to decompose, the bosses' cameras reported in a press release. "There are hundreds of tons of fish that are about to be wasted," they warned.
CAPIP has already filed a criminal complaint for the pickets in the Rawson Federal Court, in the Federal Prosecutor's Office and in the Chubut Public Prosecutor's Office.
There are two fleets that are dedicated to shrimp fishing. One is the "tangonera", which fishes, classifies the crustacean according to its caliber and freezes it in 2-kilo boxes. The other is that of the fresh shrimp, which catches it and takes it to port so that it can be peeled and deveined in the processing plants.
Between the two, they export about a billion dollars in shrimp a year. Each one sells about $ 500 million a year. As the country needs foreign exchange, the Government seeks that the parties reach an agreement , but so far without success.
Blocking of the SOMU in the accesses to processing plants of Prawn, in Patagonia.
The union launched the strike as a result of the companies' decision to leave the "tangonera" fleet moored in ports. The fishing season for this crustacean started on June 18 and at this time only one vessel (out of a fleet of 100 freezers in the country) went fishing.
The companies argue that the business has changed in recent years, that the value of shrimp has halved and that for the activity to be profitable again, wages tied to the activity's dollar must be rediscussed.
SOMU refuses to renegotiate the agreement and that is why it launched the strike in all fishing activities. Thus, the fleet dedicated to fresh shrimp should not go out fishing either.
But it came out. And what was caught is what is now blocked by the union picket line.
According to the employers, compliance with the strike was low because the sailors had high wages - up to $ 400,000 per month - that they would stop collecting if they went on strike.
In the union they gave another version. "The strike was 90% complete in all the ports of the country. In Puerto Madryn, the boats were notified of the start of the strike and the ships that left were notified and said they were going to Mar del Plata. It turns out that this was a They deceived and they went fishing returning to Puerto Madryn in full force. The SOMU did not give any directive, but the bases (the vast majority of the sailors who remained in port) blocked all activity so that the measure of force is complied with " .
However, frozen shrimp fishing activity remains paralyzed. "What is not fished now is not fished anymore, it is lost," they warned in a business camera. " More than two tides have already been lost," they added. This is the name in the jargon of each boat trip, which lasts for about 10 days.
Blocking of the SOMU in the accesses to processing plants of Prawn, in Patagonia.
Sailors in this fleet come to pocket $ 500,000 per month . The work is for four months, which lasts the fishing season.
