Port of San Antonio strike

Chile’s main stevedore union has called for an indefinite walkout at all national ports from 18 June. UPC leader Julio Castillo said the latest action was in protest at the government’s lack of progress in talks on key labour reform issues.

“We do not want to do this because those who stand to lose the most are the workers themselves, but there is little interest from the government in listening to and dealing with our concerns about the bill that is currently making its way through congress,” he said.

“They have made all the amendments [to the present law] that they wanted to and believe the new legislation is a great panacea, but it is not. And this is not something that affects just port workers but all workers.”

Castillo said workers at the Port of San Antonio were expected to vote in favour of the strike, affecting the port’s entire terminal operation. TPS at the Port of Valparaíso has not yet confirmed its adherence to the latest action.

Asoex called on its members to take all the necessary safeguards to minimise the impact from this latest action.