Within the framework of International Working Women’s Daydelegates and workers from the VN call center carried out a public action on the corner of Diagonal Sur and Moreno, a few meters from the headquarters of the Capital Trade Employees Unionwhere they denounced gender violence, union persecution and discrimination against organized workers.
The workers pointed out the union’s Secretary of Organization as responsible, Luis Sainzand to the Undersecretary General, Carlos Perezwho are accused of “promoting practices aimed at preventing the union organization of workers in the sector.”
According to what they denounced, within the union there are “systematic actions to block memberships, impediments to the payment of union dues and restrictions on the delivery of union materials, violating basic rights of workers and hindering union organization.”
The delegates also reported that three workers from the VN call center “were physically attacked when they approached the union headquarters to demand elections and respect for union democracy.”
Added to this situation is a mechanism that the workers describe as a form of institutional control and harassment: “in order to enter the union, delegates and workers must request prior authorization from the leaders, and when they are allowed to enter they are accompanied and guarded by security personnel, mostly men, within the union headquarters itself.”
The slogans of the workers’ complaint
During the activity, the workers displayed slogans that reflect the situation they are going through within the union organization:
• “In the Commerce union, women do not have rights”
• “In Commerce they persecute, discriminate and beat female workers”
• “We cannot join. We cannot pay dues”
The workers pointed out that these practices “constitute a serious act of gender violence within an organization that should be at the service of the defense of labor rights, especially in a sector such as commerce where a large part of the workforce is made up of women.”
Finally, the delegates affirmed that they will continue “to denounce these situations and demand respect for the union organization, union democracy and the rights of workers.”
«We commercial workers say enough of the violence in Comercio Capital. We can’t take it anymore«, they concluded.
