The Argentine red shrimp fishery is at a standstill as a dispute between fishing companies and workers over labor contracts has kept boats tied up.
The United Maritime Worker Union (SOMU) and multiple organizations representing fishing companies like the Cámara Argentina Patagónica de Industrias Pesqueras (CAPIP) and Cámara de Armadores de Pesqueros y Congeladores de la Argentina (CAPeCA) are at an impasse as negotiations over labor contracts have come to a standstill.
According to an interview with CAPIP President Agustin de la Fuente, the conflict between the groups is threatening to completely derail the fishing season, and he confirmed to La voz de Madryn that the freezer trawler fleet will not participate in the shrimp season in national waters and will not resume operations until 2026.
The conflict started as fishers with SOMU were presented an offer of a 22 percent cut to their wages as Argentina’s shrimp fishery was dealing with an economic crisis caused by escalating costs and lower prices.
"This union tantrum is leaving many people without jobs and jeopardizing the entire economic activity of the region," de la Fuente said.
According to de la Fuente, the 22 percent cut would actually be an increase to wages when Argentina’s high inflation rate is taken into account.
"Today, [USD] 1.00 is set at [ARS] 2,040. Conditions have improved, but the SOMU leadership prefers to condemn its members to poverty," de la Fuente said.
According to de la Fuente, the Argentine fleet is at risk of completely losing the fishing season due to SOMU’s decision, and he claimed that fishing vessels would lose money every trip at the current salary rate.
SOMU, in turn, claims fishing companies are trying to force fishermen to sign individual agreements to break the collective bargaining agreement and ignore negotiations over the 22 percent cut.
According to SOMU, the claim that the 22 percent cut would end with fishers making more is untrue, as the baseline is already down 22 percent due to a reduction in 2006.
“Fishing companies want submissive workers, who are manipulative and who are happy with what they want to pay them,” SOMU said in a post on its Facebook page.
SOMU, in a more recent communication, said it is continuing to engage in dialogue with the fishing organizations to resolve the situation and go fishing as the season stretches on.
As the fishing union holds out, de la Fuente claims there have been threats and intimidation used against workers who are willing to go fishing.
“There were photos of revolvers in sailors’ quarters. We’re not just talking about a union dispute but about restricting the freedom to work,” de la Fuente said.
The Argentine red shrimp season is primarily fished in the summer, with fishing paused in October and November, resuming in December and January.
