Conatraport Paralyzes Ports with Access Blockades Over Grace Pensions

The National Confederation of Port Workers (Conatraport) began its mobilization called in the different ports of the country, which was marked by the blockade of terminal accesses. The group demands that the Government comply with the distribution of an annual program of 250 grace pensions.

The operators have established a schedule for the aforementioned demonstration, which includes the paralysis of operations corresponding to the first shift. Subsequently, once the workday resumes, the National Coordination will evaluate the proposals received by the authorities to study the next steps to follow within the mobilization.

The pressure measures have been carried out with different intensities throughout the country. According to photographic records disseminated on Conatraport's social media, they have managed to mobilize workers from the terminals of Iquique, Antofagasta, Caldera, Chañaral, Ventanas, Lirquén, San Vicente, Talcahuano, Coronel, Valdivia, Punta Caullahuapi, Puerto Chacabuco, Puerto Natales, and Punta Arenas.

For its part, at the Port of Iquique, terrestrial access has been interrupted, specifically to Iquique Terminal Internacional (ITI). In this regard, the Port Company of Iquique (EPI) stated that "at the moment, this mobilization has been confined to the facilities of the ITI concessionaire, where workers have prevented access to the premises of said terminal."

Meanwhile, San Vicente Terminal Internacional (SVTI) reported that it "maintains its operational coordination measures activated and permanent monitoring of the situation in view of the mobilization called by port workers for grace pensions. We continue to manage the contingency to reduce its impact on our operations. We hope that dialogue between the parties will allow operations to resume normally as soon as possible."

Regarding the union's schedule, operations for the first shift will be paralyzed again on Friday, July 10, with the cancellation of two rotations scheduled for Monday, July 13, and the interruption of all three port shifts scheduled for Wednesday, July 15.

It should be noted that this organization is not part of the Port Union Confederation of Chile (the most important union group in the sector), which reached an agreement with the Government of Chile on June 16.