Uruguayan Construction Workers Go on Strike

On Wednesday, Uruguay's Single Construction Union (SUNCA) stage a national strike between 9:00 and 13:00 local time to demand that President Luis Lacalle meet some pressing social needs.

RELATED:

Uruguayan Students and Teachers Strike Against Budget Cuts

The worker's mobilization seeks to achieve jobs, housing, social security, and collective bargaining for the Uruguayan population. “These objectives were discussed and elaborated by construction workers throughout the country,” SUNCA stressed.

The Uruguayans will carry out acts in the different departments of the country. In Montevideo, the mobilization will be concentrated on the esplanade of the Municipality, from where the people will march towards the headquarters of the Economy Ministry.

In each department, however, the strike will take place at different times. In Pueblo Centenario, for example, the workers will stop working between 8:00 and 14:00 local time. Today's strike is a preparatory action for another national strike called for July 7.

The tweet reads, "49 years after the coup and the beginning of the heroic general strike, we continue to defend democracy and seek memory, truth, and justice. Never again State terrorism!"

SUNCA clarified that its strike also occur in support of the unions in conflict and in rejection of the sabotage that the Lacalle administration carries out on public companies.

"In recent years, the Housing Ministry has cut USS130 million and the Transportation Ministry has cut US$200 million, which implies a loss of up to 15,000 jobs," said Lilian Diaz, a woman who is the daughter of European migrants.

“There is a scenario where the class struggle sharpens and the rope is tightened. The government's objective is to continue with pro-market reforms... Public and private workers from all industries legitimately claim their demands and fight to avoid having to back down.”