In a day focused on improving working conditions in the diving sector, the discussion “Decent Work for Divers” was held, an activity organized by the Undersecretariat of Labor and the Seremi del Trabajo Los Lagos. This meeting had the active participation of both workers’ organizations and employers, in an effort to address the problems of this sector and present the progress of the bill that seeks to protect divers in the country by regulating diving contracts and the minimum safety conditions under which they must operate in this high-risk activity.
Representatives of the Fair Food Program of the United States also participated in this activity: an association between producers, agricultural workers and buyers of food companies that has substantially improved working conditions in this country and seeks to make a contribution in Chile as well. In addition, we had the participation of the Los Lagos Labor Observatory, which collaborated with the methodology of the activity.
The event brought together various actors from the labor sector. On the workers’ side, the National Coordination of Salmon Industry Workers, the Women’s Divers’ Union, the National Confederation of Salmon Workers (Contatrasal), as well as federations of company unions such as Salmones Austral, the Multisindical del Salmón, the Pro Buceo Union, the Inter-Company Union Blumar Aysén and the National Union of Divers Hijos del Rigor were present.
On the employers’ side, representatives from Hain SPA, Naviera Aquisesrv Ltda, AquaChile and Salmones Austral participated.
During the discussion, the Government’s commitment to Decent Work in the region was highlighted, as well as the progress of the bill that creates the diving contract, which was a commitment assumed by the authority with the workers’ and employers’ organizations. In this sense, the transversal support received by the project, approved almost unanimously in the Chamber of Deputies, was emphasized, and its content was strengthened by the additional indications made during its processing.
The Seremi of Labor and Social Security, Ricardo Ebner, stressed that “the indications added to the project strengthen the protection of divers in our country, first of all, by recognizing their work. In addition, it seeks to guarantee greater security with regard to the responsibility of the employer and, above all, in the occurrence of accidents related to decompression, facilitating urgent access to hyperbaric chambers.”
“For us as the Undersecretariat of Labor, it is very important to be in the territory where the activities are carried out. That is why we are in Castro, very happy to carry out a tripartite dialogue with the participation of different workers’ organizations and also with the presence of the industry. We want to advance a little beyond what has been discussed in the draft law on divers, promoting public policies and programs that prevent gender discrimination and rights violations in the salmon industry, and in this way advance Decent Work, especially in the activities carried out by divers,” said Arlette Martínez, head of the Department of Fundamental Rights of the Undersecretariat of Labor.
Rayen Valdivia, representative of the Professional Women’s Divers Union, said “I am grateful for the opportunity to be here, to be able to have these dialogues that are very important for the girls in the union. The main thing we want is to reach out to companies, to invite them to want to work with us and to open their doors to us, we have the same capabilities, we obtain the license in the same way and what we want is to have the opportunity, so we are very grateful for the opportunity, that we can put the issue on the table and that they take us seriously.”
Oscar Cárdenas, first director of the National Union of Divers Hijos del Rigor, valued the opportunity, “I think it is very good, it seemed like a very productive activity, in which we have participated this day and we have been able to participate in this to reach agreements on the divers law.”
The day concluded with a first phase of presentations, and then went on to a group work session that allowed key information to be gathered for authorities and state services, in order to promote increasingly better working and employment conditions in the sector.
Source: www.elinsular.cl
