Post by crowsnake on May 13, 2007 8:25:52 GMT -5
Peru's miners began an indefinite strike on Apr. 30 demanding respect for labor rights. Their main complaint is against the outsourcing of jobs, as 80 percent of the 100,000 workers in the mining industry — the backbone of the economy — are affected by the phenomenon of subcontracting and outsourcing.
Trade union leaders reported that between 35,000 and 40,000 workers from 33 of the 74 unions grouped in the national federation of miners and metalworkers (FNTMMSP) had joined the strike.
The mining industry has become increasingly important to the economy, to the point that it now provides 60 percent of all income tax. Peru is the world's second-largest producer of silver, third-largest producer of copper and zinc, fourth-largest producer of lead, and fifth-largest producer of gold.
But at the same time, labor conditions have become more and more flexible. The FNTMMSP called the strike to demand the regularization of the employment status of 80,000 workers who are not on the payroll of the companies they actually work for and thus do not enjoy the labor rights and benefits to which they are entitled.
Source: IPS
