[CTC] ILWU President urges Peru: Make DP World respect international labor laws

[Arthur Stamoulis]

http://www.longshoreshippingnews.com/2010/07/ilwu-president-urges-peru-make-dp-world-respect-international-labor-laws/

ILWU President urges Peru: Make DP World respect international labor  
laws
Coast Committeemen Ray Ortiz, Jr. and Leal Sundet recently met with  
Peruvian Congressman and lifelong dockworker Luis Negreiros to discuss  
the ongoing attack on longshore union rights in Peru. Ortiz, Sundet  
and Negreiros had frank discussions about DP World’s recent refusal to  
negotiate with the SUTRAMPORPC union in Callao, Peru’s largest port.

To support the Peruvian dockworkers, ILWU President Robert McEllrath  
has sent the following letter to Peruvian President Alan García. The  
letter is also available in pdf format and inSpanish:

July 14, 2010

Head of State and Government
The Honorable Dr. Alan García Pérez
President of the Republic of Perú
Jr. de la Unión S/N 1ra. Cuadra, Cercado de Lima
Lima, Perú

Honorable President García:

I am writing to you about a matter of increasing concern to the  
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and labor  
worldwide. In May, the Government of Peru declared a 60-day emergency  
that allowed armed forces and police to intervene and restore  
operations in the Port of Callao. Until that time, the Callao Port  
Union of Maritime and Port Employees (SUTRAMPORPC) had been on strike  
seeking the very basic labor rights of union recognition and  
collective bargaining. To date, DP World, the terminal operator for  
Muelle Sur in the Port of Callao, continues to refuse to deal with  
SUTRAMPORPC, leaving domestic workers completely unprotected and  
subject to the caprice of the foreign port operator now running Muelle  
Sur. We have seen this before. Without the basic protection that union  
recognition and collective bargaining provide, DP World will extract  
massive corporate profits at the expense of the Peruvian public and  
Peru’s unprotected dockworkers.

The United States – Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, the bilateral  
trade agreement between the United States and Peru which took effect  
February 1, 2009, sets forth certain requirements that its two  
signatories must follow. Specifically, Article 17.2, Fundamental Labor  
Rights, states that both the United States and Peru shall adopt and  
maintain in their statutes and regulations, and practices thereunder,  
the rights outlined in the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and  
Rights at Work and its Follow-Up (1998) (ILO Declaration). The rights  
outlined in the ILO Declaration include the freedom of association and  
the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. Also,  
Article 17.3, Enforcement of Labor Laws, states that each party shall  
not fail to effectively enforce its labor laws, including those  
adopted in accordance with Article 17.2. Thus, not only is it a moral  
requirement that the Peruvian government protect its citizens by  
taking action to demand that DP World recognize and bargain with  
SUTRAMPORPC, it is also a legal requirement under the bilateral trade  
agreement that Peru signed with the United States.

Given the moral and legal requirements, the ILWU is deeply concerned  
about DP World’s denial of union recognition and collective bargaining  
to dockworkers in Muelle Sur. We are also very concerned about the  
Peruvian government’s apparent failure to demand that DP World comply  
with the fundamental labor rights contained in the ILO Declaration.  
The dockworkers of the Port of Callao, for their part, have placed  
their confidence in the democratic process in hopes of finding a  
legitimate way to solve the current crisis given the fact that the  
basic labor rights that they seek are both international and domestic  
legal requirements.

We respectfully request that the Peruvian government take swift action  
to ensure that DP World comply with the ILO Declaration, which clearly  
requires effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.  
Until DP World comes into compliance, labor unions and their  
affiliates worldwide will join in the fight to defend the basic rights  
of Peruvian dockworkers – whatever that support entails.

Dockworkers worldwide are of a strong and unique fraternity that  
transcends nationalism. Cargo vessels and their owners are not  
dependent on any one country. Neither are dockworkers. An injury to  
one is an injury to all.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

[signed by Robert McEllrath]

Robert McEllrath
International President

cc:

Lindsay McLaughlin, Legislative Director, ILWU Washington, D.C. Office
Dra. Manuela García Cochagne, Minister of Labor, Peru
Enrique Cornejo Ramirez, Minister of Transportation and  
Communications, Peru
Wilmer Esteves, Secretary General, Callao Port Union of Maritime and  
Port Employees Peru
Sergio Valdivia, Secretary General, National Federation of Maritime  
and Port Workers, Peru
David Cockroft, General Secretary, International Transportation  
Workers’ Federation
Antolín Goya, General Coordinator, International Dockworkers’ Council
Cecilio Lepe Bautista, General Secretary, Federación Nacional de  
Trabajadores de Transportes y Maniobras Marítimas y Terrestres, México
Albino Vargas, General Secretary, National Association of Public and  
Private Employees, Costa Rica





Arthur Stamoulis
Oregon Fair Trade Campaign
(503) 736-9777
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