This was stated by the general secretary of the National Construction and Anexes Trade Union (Sunca), Javier Díaz, who commented on the recent death of a worker, the second one so far this year.

He told the publication Caras y Caretas that during the last five years, the situation of labor accidents “has changed for the worse”.

Díaz pointed out that “there is a part of the Uruguayan business community that longs for the 90’s, “when there was no collective bargaining” and when there was a lot of unemployment and informality.

“These are the same people who claim that the best union is the one that does not exist,” he said.

He criticized the policy of the outgoing Ministry of Labor with an increase in fatal and non-fatal accidents.

He remarked that Sunca is a founder of the National Commission of Safety and Health at Work (Conaset), an area of participation between the government, workers and employers to disseminate, regulate and discuss issues related to safety and health at work.

He also pointed out that the union achieved the approval of one of the “most advanced decrees in the country” on occupational safety, which “establishes that a safety delegate, in the event of a dangerous situation, can partially stop the work”.

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