Colombia: Transport Workers’ Strike Causes Social and Economic Damage

Transport Workers during the Strike, Sept 2024 Photo: @ElkinLizarazoo

September 5, 2024 Hour: 11:50 am

To alleviate the situation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development implemented an urgent action plan to ensure priority passage for vehicles carrying food and essential goods.

On Thursday, despite the government’s calls for dialogue and the presentation of various proposals made to the union, a transport strike continues today in Colombia, which the country’s trade union confederations see as an attempt at destabilization.

The form chosen by the protesters is the closure of many of the nation’s most important roads, which, after four days of uninterrupted blockades, is already causing serious damage to the productive sector and serious inconvenience to the public.

The Alliance of Associations and Guilds (Aliadas) warned that, according to its estimates, daily losses could reach 80 billion pesos (about 20 million dollars at the current exchange rate), significantly damaging the economic stability of the country and the cost of living of Colombians.

According to the organization, the stoppage following the diesel price hike impacts on key sectors such as agriculture, commerce and manufacturing, and warns that shortages and increased transport costs could lead to higher inflation.

#BoletínDePrensa 🚨 | Reiteramos el llamado a los transportadores que participan en los bloqueos de vías para que establezcan corredores que eviten el desabastecimiento de alimentos en el país. Desde #MinAgricultura 🌾 analizamos con los gremios el impacto en el sector… pic.twitter.com/msWtOkmmSP
— Min. de Agricultura (@MinAgricultura) September 5, 2024

We reiterate the call to transporters who participate in roadblocks to establish corridors to prevent food shortages in the country. From the Minister of Agriculture we have analyzed with the unions the impact on the agricultural sector and on consumers

To alleviate the situation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development implemented an urgent action plan to ensure priority passage for vehicles carrying food and essential goods.

The agriculture and livestock ministry asked the authorities and leaders of the strike to set up supply corridors to avoid economic losses and ensure the supply of foodstuffs.

In this regard, the Ministry set up a Unified Command Post for the sector that works in permanent coordination with the Ministry of Transport to monitor the food supply situation nationwide.

The day before, the president of the nation, Gustavo Petro, affirmed that in reality it is a business strike that responds to economic and political interests, and not to those of a social movement that usually raises just demands.

The Unión Sindical Obrera de la Industria del Petróleo, for example, denounced that behind the blockade caused by some truckers is Henry Cárdenas, the president of Fedetranscarga, which groups some transporters in the service of Uribism, in reference to former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010).

According to this workers’ organization, Cárdenas is now calling for a political strike not so much to maintain the subsidy that the government of his ally Iván Duque (2018-2022) gave him, but to generate panic and attack Petro’s government.

Meanwhile, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia, which represents about 500,000 workers, warned in a statement that the national truckers’ strike is aimed at generating greater ungovernability, and thus creating conditions conducive to a coup d’état.