Image: SOMU / Mundo Sindical / FIS

Due to Strikes, Argentine Fishing Industry Has Lost Nearly 300 Million Dollars in 2024

ARGENTINA
Monday, May 13, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

The data arise from a study prepared by the Latin American Foundation for Fisheries Sustainability (FULASP) after the second general strike this year, called throughout the country by the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT). The entity evaluated the critical economic and labor losses that occurred in recent months, within a framework of hostile decisions and negotiations between unions, employers and the National Government.

The international organization in charge of the report evaluated the negative impact that the forceful measures of the last five months, with responsibilities shared between all parties, are generating not only on industrial activity, but also on employment and state coffers.

Source: CGT

In detail, the report states that “so far this year, the potential of more than 30 thousand tons of fish was wasted in the extractive activity, including all the species caught in the Argentine sea, generating a severe crisis. of profitability in the business sector for more than 260 million dollars.

FULASP also observed that this loss was accompanied by serious breaches of international export contracts, losses in the hiring of temporary personnel (due to an interruption of the different harvests), stagnation of workers' salaries and a sharp drop in payment of state taxes related to extraction fees, export duties, gross receipts, and contributions to social security and the health system.

In this regard, Raúl Cereseto, President of the entity in charge of the work, pointed out that “since 2024 began, the national fishing industry has been captive to endless conflicts and forceful measures in which symmetrical responsibilities have been distributed among the maritime unions. , the employers' association and the national executive", and added that "the inability of the actors to agree on how to carry out the tasks, and the lack of common sense to reach a mutual understanding has caused a repeated suspension in the usual production, which brought about damage not only to the different industries, but also to the regional economies, internal consumption, the hiring and remuneration of workers, and the public income of the state.

The port of the city of Mar del Plata, with its deep-sea freshwater fleet, as well as the yellow ships of the province of Chubut, at their different berths (the most important in the country), saw their activities canceled on many occasions due to complaints joint actions of the unions, as well as by business decisions, which led to the loss of many labor waves.

Source: Stockfile FIS

In turn, the changes proposed by the National Government in the Federal Fisheries Law, which was part of the reform package that it submitted to the National Congress in January and that sought to establish severe modifications in permits and establish, among other issues, The fact that catch quotas were allocated through a system of international bidding (measures that were later rolled back) also generated a lot of uncertainty about the activity as a whole and deflated operations.

<-- Source: Stockfile FIS

In that sense, Cereseto also explained that “the fall is very important because multiplier losses are generated, given that, on the one hand, there is the valuation of the price that the shipowner or the fishing businessman sells on the shoulder (at the dock) to the processing plants and, on the other hand, there is a second vacuum that is generated by the fact that this merchandise, since it cannot be processed, entails the impossibility of being exported.”

The foundation also observes that this harsh political, social, business and labor process is not only occurring at the national level and assures that “there is a very high degree of conflict in Latin American fishing,” given that in the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, the situation is even worse, with 90% of the fishing fleet having had its operations blocked since December of last year, and with almost three thousand workers directly affected. There, the differences between the Maritime Intergremial of Uruguay and the River Plate government keep the activity on the brink of the abyss.

Source: Stockfile FIS

At the national level, the organization that fights for fishing sustainability prepared the report precisely to set off alarm bells and demonstrate that the lack of agreements and understanding between the parties causes much more harmful consequences than the conflict itself.

Finally, Raúl Cereseto recognized that “although ending these conflicts is a challenge for everyone,” he considered that it is essential that the national government accept the challenge and convene a tripartite liaison table to agree on a way of working that requires maintaining "the totality of productive activities while adjusting macroeconomic variables."

Source: FULASP

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