Workers threaten, SalmonChile solicits government intervention
In view of this weeks news, the most recent wave of worker unrest and protest is growing. It is surprising to see such long-lived resistance on behalf of a particular company workforce, and shows a change in the organizational capability of union leaders and a growing support of worker’s union issues. The repetitive use of rebellion and violence over peaceful negotiation however is what most concerns SalmonChile. Yet in an effort to seek Government intervention, Felipe Harboe, Undersecretary of the Interior had this to say regarding the situation with Aguas Claras: “In this case there was a poor working relation between the company and the workers. It is impossible to place this responsibility on the Government, and getting involved in private industry relations does not correspond to the government, or the police authorities.” The press communications from SalmonChile and Empresas AquaChile speak repeatedly of the violence demonstrated on behalf of the protestors, yet images of special police forces over-exaggerating the need to strike at worker protesters in the initial mobilizations in the Aguas Claras plant may be the cause of the growing retaliation. The Union Federation of Quellón, a worker union federation in support of the workers’ struggle at Aguas Claras, initiated a solidarity mobilization in Chiloé yesterday that resulted in twenty workers detained under police custody. The Federation states, “We the directors of the mobilizations regarding the worker conflict with Aguas Claras (AquaChile) declare that more [mobilizations of union workers] will continue in various points of Chiloé and the zone of Puerto Montt.” Police confrontation with protesters in AquaChile’s headquarters yesterday, See the video
