The members of the Argentinian Blueberry Committee (ABC) welcomed the creation of the subcommittee on labor to address the issues of the sector under the National Agricultural Labor Commission (CNTA). They also requested that 8 hour harvest work be established at 40 kilos of fruit, and not at 25 kilos, as is intended by the government.
Federico Baya, president of ABC
Federico Baya, president of ABC, appreciated the willingness of the Ministry of Labor to form this technical table where all parties are represented and whose purpose is the reconsideration of CNTA resolution 236/2016 that establishes the norms to value the work performed by the harvesters. "If this resolution that reduces working conditions for blueberry harvesters to 25 kilos per day is maintained, the industry will disappear," he said.
In turn, the representative of the Ministry of Labor said that the government could reconsider the values established in said resolution, and requested the Ministry of Agribusiness Industry to give them an additional technical report on the activity. "We hold these working tables but we need the Ministry of Agribusiness to work quickly to be able to overcome this situation," Baya said.
The producers of blueberries from Mesopotamia are nucleated in the Argentine Committee, from where they based their position in the technical reports of specialized organisms like the Obispo Colombres Experimental Station in Tucumán and the Experimental Station INTA Concordia in Entre Rios, which stated that the correct amount was 40 kilos of fruit per working day.
"We are confident that the Ministry of Agribusiness's technical contribution will be key to solving this issue. This would allow us to support the more than 700,000 wages that are currently at risk," said Baya, referring to the situation of blueberry producers in the region at the meeting with representatives of the Ministries of Agribusiness, Economy and Labor, Uatre and Rural Society, who today represent the sector in said subcommittee. Next Monday, the subcommittee will meet again to define the situation of the sector.
The ABC brings together the Association of Producers of Mesopotamia (APAMA), the Argentine Chamber of Producers of Blueberries and Other Berries (CAPAB), and the Association of Producers of Blueberries of Tucuman (APRATUC).
More information:
APAMA
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