MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Labor strife leaves 60 Uruguayan fishing vessels idle

Most of the Uruguayan fishing fleet has been docked since last April 29 because of labor disputes leaving an estimated 3.000 workers from processing plants and other branches of the industry out of work according to the vessel owners.

The fishermen's union is demanding improved insurance coverage when at sea and a more generous pension scheme for retirement. Members have been holding open meetings to decide on the terms but have yet not received the official communication, according to union sources. The vessel owners chamber have complained to Uruguay's Labor and Social Security Ministry arguing that at the end of April a new contract for the next two years, --until April 2010 and with mediation of the ministry-- was signed by the union but still vessels remain idle. The agreement was reached after a long conflict with no fishing activities for several weeks. "This situation is not only irregular and contrary to the latest agreement but is also causing serious losses to the industry, delaying exports with the risk of loosing markets and has left the croaker season open to Argentine fishing vessels", said a communiqué from vessel owners. An estimated 60 high seas fishing vessels remain docked in Montevideo and La Paloma. But union leader Jose Franco said that workers are respecting the agreement, "we're entitled to a monthly open meeting and in this case it has been adjourned several times because officials from the Insurance bank and the Social Security Office have not answered our requests". This has been a particularly difficult year for the Uruguayan fishing industry which exports an average of 200 million US dollars annually, approximately 40% of which to the European Union. At the end of last year a European Commission delegation discovered that not all Uruguayan plants and vessels were complying with EC regulations and therefore suspended EU licensing for Uruguay's fisheries industry. However according to Uruguayan sources recent inspections by the EC Veterinary Office were positive which means that complying with requirements automatically empowers the country involved to recommend new plants and vessels to the EC Consolidated List of entities allowed to export to the EU.