The Uruguayan union movement reaffirmed this Thursday that it will continue to defend the rights of workers, which it considers violated by policies of the government of President Luis Lacalle Pou.
This was a decision expressed at the event called by the PIT-CNT to support the partial strike held today in commemoration of the 51st anniversary of the general strike that confronted the civil-military coup of June 27, 1973.
In the Plaza Huelga General in the Uruguayan capital, the general secretary of the construction workers’ union (Sunca), Daniel Diverio, paid tribute to those who resisted the uprising from their neighborhoods and workplaces, which he described as fascist.
It was the same epithet he used when referring to the promoters of the attempted coup d’état the day before in Bolivia.
He considered it an aggression “against all the peoples” of the continent.
Diverio criticized the government’s management, which, he claimed, benefits capital by offering it cheap labor.
In this regard, he said that work is becoming more precarious and social and labor conflicts are being repressed.
He mentioned the recent attack, including with rubber bullets, against fishing workers who have been facing a strike for months.
Also the police response to legitimate student protests, he said.
He said that the unions will support the protests and struggles of sugar cane workers, who “receive poverty wages.”
There is a precariousness in health that affects the most needy people, which is why the public health system needs to be strengthened, he added.
The union leader criticized the government’s housing policy. He assured that the relocations of poor settlements are not accompanied by schools and other basic services.
He contrasted the pace at which apartment towers are being built in this capital, Maldonado and other places, where 60 percent of the apartments sold are empty.
Money laundering or speculation? he asked.
Daniel Diverio called to defend public companies and in this regard supported the decision to stop a sanitation works project that could lead to the privatization of water service to the population.
At the end of his speech before hundreds of unionized workers, he reiterated the conviction of the PIT-CNT that there will be a plebiscite on the reform of Social Security on October 27.
This is despite disagreements expressed by government parties and even sectors of the Broad Front.
Whoever wants to govern in 2025 has to take into account the opinion of the workers, he stated.
