”The Port of Callao in struggle, we are fighting for fulfillment of our labor rights. Training for new port technology. Security and health in port jobs. We urge prompt solutions from the government. Respect or strike!” Photo by SUTRAMPORPC.
Replacement labor used by APM Terminals to fill in for striking dockworkers at Peru’s Port of Callao has started to affect container operations, according to the labor union’s spokesman.
Juan Carlos Vargas, spokesman for the Peruvian dockworkers’ union SUTRAMPORPC, disputes APMT’s assertion that the strike, now entering its third week, has caused minimal disruptions and has been confined to APMT’s general cargo operations.
“You’ll have to visit us and check the big line of [container drayage] trucks trying to get into the port,” Vargas told IHS Maritime on Tuesday. “Clearly, [APMT] has a serious problem.”
He alleged that APMT’s use of the Peruvian Navy to replace union labor for APMT’s container, general cargo, and ro-ro operations at the port is both unsafe and illegal.