Along with other organizations that make up the Maritime and Fluvial Trade Union Federation, the Siconara opposes the decision of the Executive to reform or repeal the Cabotage Law that regulates the activity of the sector.

The rule changes would allow foreign crews and ships to be used for local work.

We are under an obligation to inform the Argentine people about the highly damaging effects of what the government has proposed. They would wipe out the National Merchant Navy,” a Siconara statement said.

If this “deregulation” were to be carried out, the Argentine vessels manned by workers from this country that are destined to provide fuel for the consumption of our homes, hospitals, industries and means of transport, as well as health and food supplies destined for our population, would remain exclusively in foreign hands, it adds.

It also asserts that this nation would lose sovereignty and increase unemployment and the flight of foreign exchange in dollars due to the payment of freight abroad and the loss of supply capacity.

Our Navy was and is a fundamental axis in critical moments experienced by our nation, as happened during the Falklands War (1982), in which it served soldiers in the Islands and suffered the highest number of civilian casualties during the conflict, the document indicates.

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