2023-04-18 11:29:48
In a statement sent last week by the Union of Industrial Workers of Azucitrus (UTIA), the union of that citrus company, to Senator Eduardo Brenta from the Frente Amplio, the workers requested the extension of the unemployment insurance that covers them, which expired on March 31. . According to the document, the drought had consequences that shortened the duration of the harvest and caused many of the workers in the sector in Paysandú, Salto and Río Negro to start working later, leaving 60 days without income.
in dialogue with the dailyMelvin Nievas, vice president of UTIA, explained that due to the weather anomaly “the fruit did not reach the caliber stipulated for export”: “The fruit is smaller, by not reaching the calibers the export is shortened, the working times and, in turn, the number of people entering the [a la zafra]”, he added. As a consequence, more than half of the 3,500 workers in the sector have not yet begun to work in the harvest.
In times without drought, Nievas said that the harvest begins in March and ends in October or November and that the tasks consist of assembling boxes that are later filled with lemons, oranges and tangerines. “It all depends on the buyer, the country they go to and the caliber,” he added. However, the absence of rain in the quantity and quality of fruits resulted in the harvest being shortened and fewer employees required. The situation affects the 3,500 seasonal workers, but also other related sectors, such as transport.
“Every year we have to walk behind the MTSS”
According to Nievas, the response from Azucitrus, the company, was that most of the workers would start working little by little, although he clarified that some will be left out, and that the harvest would last “a couple of months.” For this reason, from the union they ask that the special unemployment insurance be extended, which originally runs from October 1 to March 1. “To get the special insurance you have to have worked 150 days in a period of 180 days,” he added.
“We ended the insurance on March 31, it would be two months that we are hanging without income from work or insurance. Until the beginning of June ”, he pointed out. Because of this, the intention of the workers is for the government to approve an extension of the special unemployment insurance for two months to cover workers who have not yet begun to work in the harvest and those who will not do so due to lack of jobs. .
Last week, Andrés Imperial, mayor of Paysandú for the Broad Front, delivered the UTIA statement to Brenta, with the intention that Parliament deal with the issue and promote a minute to the Executive Power to solve the situation. Nievas clarified that “for months” they have been trying to get a response from the authorities, and it is not that their insurance ran out in March and “we ran away.” In this sense, he affirmed that the Federation of Citrus Unions, made up of the united unions of the three departments, is negotiating with the head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), Pablo Mieres, since February 14 of this year .
“Every year we have to walk behind the MTSS, whatever the minister, whatever the government. What we want is for it to be law, for it to come to a certain time when you stop working and they add you to the insurance. That we don’t have to go around all these circles,” said Nievas. In any case, he indicated that “people misunderstand” that citrus workers “want to live on insurance, but it is not like that.” In this sense, he explained that the situation on the coast, “both in Paysandú and in Salto and Río Negro, is critical, there is no work.”
in dialogue with the dailyBrenta reported that this Tuesday they will present a minute addressed to the Executive Power in the plenary session of the Chamber of Senators: “We understand that since producers were assisted during the drought situation, it is also appropriate to attend to the workers, who are going to spend 60 days without having any income,” he said.
The senator commented that he consulted the MTSS on the subject and they told him that they are working to draw up a bill that contemplates the extension of unemployment insurance for citrus workers. Brenta pointed out that it is based on the fact that the proposal will be supported by all the parties and that it is important that the project be approved quickly in both chambers so that the Social Welfare Bank can implement it.
Like Nieves, he stressed that this case adds to the “extremely serious situation on the coast”, where “the level of unemployment is the highest in recent decades.” He explained that this is due to “the situation in Argentina, on the one hand, and the drought on the Uruguayan side, on the other.”
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