The Ecuadorian Solidarity Workers Confederation (CTSE), on Thursday, June 1, reported that 37 workers had been fired from the Ministry of Government over two days and demanded their immediate reinstatement. The dismissals are allegedly linked to the ongoing collective bargaining process for better wages and working conditions.
Juan Fernando Rodríguez Escobar, president of the CTSE, was among those fired. Rodríguez is also a member of the National Union of Drivers and Workers of the Ministry of Government, which was engaged in collective bargaining negotiations with the national government. For this reason, the CTSE deemed the sudden and unjustified termination of workers as “evidence of the persecution and anti-union character of the illegitimate government of Guillermo Lasso.”
“The National Union of Drivers and Workers of the Ministry of Government is one of the constituent unions of the CTSE, therefore, we consider this measure as a political action against our organization and express our strongest repudiation,” the union said on Wednesday. It termed the dismissal of Rodríguez as “a selective act of political persecution,” and declared that it would “answer and confront with firmness and dignity a government that has shown itself to be the enemy of the workers.”
The trade union center held Government Minister Henry Cucalón responsible for the sacking and criticized him for not keeping his promise to not fire workers. The union said that the dismissals were a violation of the articles 187 and 195 of the Labor Code, which protect union leaders from untimely dismissals resulting from political retaliation by employers.
In the previous days, the CTSE had repeatedly warned that the Lasso government could dismiss the workers of the government ministry to intimidate and deter its members from organizing in defense of workers’ rights.
The union center called on its grassroots unions to remain vigilant against increasing precarious employment. “In view of these illegal acts, which are evidence of a government policy of retaliation, intimidation and violation of labor rights, we call on our rank and file and the people in general to remain vigilant, as this could become the prelude to a governmental move to violate rights and make the condition of the working class even more precarious.”
The CTSE also called on the International Labor Organization (ILO) and other international and national organizations to reject this attack against their union.
Social movements reject persecution of workers, express solidarity
The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the country’s largest Indigenous organization, condemned the illegal dismissal of workers and called it a “violation of labor rights, persecution and attack against the trade union” by the Lasso government.
“We second the public denunciation made by the Union of Workers of the Ministry of Government regarding the massive, untimely and illegal dismissal of 37 colleagues, pointing out that Minister Henry Cucalón is responsible for this action. This only confirms the violation of labor rights, persecution and attack against the trade union by the government of Guillermo Lasso. We support the working class of the country, which has been the most affected by this government, and we join the demand for the respect and restoration of labor rights that have been violated,” CONAIE said in a statement.
The Indigenous and Peasant Movement of Cotopaxi (MICC) also rejected the persecution of workers and expressed solidarity.
“We recognize the legitimate struggle of the sister trade union that managed to incorporate the principles of plurinationality and interculturality, together with the class and anti-patriarchal position, in the defense of the interests of the working class that generates wealth in our country. The coup of the extreme right-wing government minister intends to undermine the consistent trade union positions that do not sell out the grassroots unions for public office, nor compromise with the governments in power,” the MICC said in a statement.
“We call on our affiliates to support the struggle of the CTSE and coordinate new spaces for the diffusion of the demands and struggles of the classes exploited by the capitalist system, patriarchy and coloniality,” the MICC added.
