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Chile fresh fruit deal hit by labour strife
Chile
Monday 17 March 2008
Workers have taken over a fruit plant and blocked a highway, as San Antonio Port workers continue to strike. Wildcat labour turmoil at a local fruit packing plant and a labour strike at the Port of San Antonio caught Chiles US$2.3bn fresh fruit export deal by surprise early this week. Masked workers believed to be farm workers - shut down the Verfrut fruit packing plant on Tuesday afternoon, ransacking company property, burning a pick-up truck and making off with three laptop computers. Verfrut is located at Las Cabras, in the heart of Chiles fruit-rich Central Valley, about a two hour drive from Santiago. Early the next morning masked workers also temporarily blocked traffic on the main highway that connects most of the nations fruit export companies to the Pacific Coast ports of San Antonio and Valparaiso.
Seven people were arrested as a result of the two strike actions. The labour strife comes at an especially tough time for fresh fruit growers, already severely stressed by current drought conditions in Chile and the extremely low value of the US dollar. Verfrut CEO Javier Martínez attributed the disruptions to "activists and delinquents", and decided to temporarily shut down all packing plant activities. "It is the same people that shut down the Agrosuper (food processing) plant and the El Teniente copper mine," said Mr Martínez, referring to two highly publicised strikes that occurred in 2007. This weeks labour strife couldn't come at a worse time for Chiles fresh fruit deal. Fresh fruit exports are very time-sensitive due to the nature of the commodity, and disruptions in the processing and delivery chain can ruin what might otherwise be a good season for growers and exporters. "The Verfut incident is very unfortunate," said Manuel Jose Alcaino, a fresh fruit industry analyst and service provider. "The growers and exporters have their whole years work hanging on the vines. This trouble is being caused by professional outside agitators, not people from the growing areas."
Seven people were arrested as a result of the two strike actions. The labour strife comes at an especially tough time for fresh fruit growers, already severely stressed by current drought conditions in Chile and the extremely low value of the US dollar. Verfrut CEO Javier Martínez attributed the disruptions to "activists and delinquents", and decided to temporarily shut down all packing plant activities. "It is the same people that shut down the Agrosuper (food processing) plant and the El Teniente copper mine," said Mr Martínez, referring to two highly publicised strikes that occurred in 2007. This weeks labour strife couldn't come at a worse time for Chiles fresh fruit deal. Fresh fruit exports are very time-sensitive due to the nature of the commodity, and disruptions in the processing and delivery chain can ruin what might otherwise be a good season for growers and exporters. "The Verfut incident is very unfortunate," said Manuel Jose Alcaino, a fresh fruit industry analyst and service provider. "The growers and exporters have their whole years work hanging on the vines. This trouble is being caused by professional outside agitators, not people from the growing areas."
