2024-03-25 13:53:23
Mayors of the Biobío Region raised black flags as a sign of mourning for the labor tragedy caused by the closure of Huachipato and the domino effect it could cause in other companies.
The different municipalities of the Biobío Region declared themselves to be on alert due to the imminent closure of the Huachipato Steel Company.
For this reason, the mayors They raised black flags in the Governor’s Office and on the front of the municipalitiesas a sign of regional mourning for the domino effect that could cause the cessation of operations of said company.
As a result of this situation, various authorities met at the Regional Government (GORE) in order to address measures to avoid the paralysis of the steel plant.
In the instance, the mayor of Concepción and president of the Association of Bío Bío municipalities, Álvaro Ortiz, assured that if “Huachipato closes, then any company can close“.
In this way, the communal authority stated: “What we want is for this to be solved, for Huachipato not to close, for that 33% to be given for steel balls, and 25% for bars as well.”
In this sense, he specified: “What we are talking about we do it from common sense, but also understanding that Not only are more than 20,000 families that will be affected and will experience unemployment, but the vast majority, all of these families, live in a commune in the province of Concepción.“.
Concern about “domino effect”
On the other hand, Henry Campos, mayor of Talcahuano, targeted the Government by ensuring that it abandoned the workers of the Huachipato Steel Company.
“The president (Boric) received the workers of Huachipato behind bars, who “They expressed the need to intervene with respect to Chinese dumping.”he explained.
At that time, he noted that the head of state said that “he was going to fight for Huachipato and for the workers. However, “Today we regret the Commission’s decision.”
Continuing along these lines, Campos announced that he spoke with the Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau, who told him that they were going to schedule a meeting with the company with the aim of taking measures to “be able to save Huachipato.”
However, he explained that whose decisions could require intervention from Congress to be able to adopt them. Under this context, the mayor of Talcahuano urged the deputies and senators to collaborate, stating that “If Huachipato falls, other companies will fall”.
In closing, he stressed his concern for the more than 3,000 direct jobs generated by the Siderúrgica Huachipato company.