Nationwide Protests Sweep September, as Labor Disputes Intensify, Reaching a Boiling Point

• According to the institute’s report, the majority of complaints were registered in the Capital District and Carabobo

The Institute of Higher Trade Union Studies (Inaesin) reported on October 8 that during the month of September they recorded 44 labor disputes, which is equivalent to four times more than in August, when 11 cases were registered.

Workers in the education sector led the protests with 56.82% of the total, followed by labor complaints by employees in the health area, with 13.64%.

Inaesin, an organization that is part of the Observatory of Labor Conflict and Union Management, reported that 59.09% of labor conflicts were to demand decent wages, while 18.18% demanded better working conditions.

The Federation of Colleges of Bioanalysts of Venezuela (Fecobiove) indicated to Inaesin that at least 80% of the hospitals in the country did not provide adequate care to patients in September.

The majority of labor conflicts in September were by public administration workers, specifically 95.45%. Of that figure, the unions accompanied the protests by 79.55%.

Photo: Inaesin

Labor conflicts by sectors

According to the Inaesin report, 100% of the demonstrations were expressed through complaints.

Regarding the areas where labor complaints were registered, the Capital District registered 50% of the complaints, followed by the state of Carabobo (9.09%). Monagas, Lara, Bolívar and Miranda were in third place with 6.82%, each.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) also noted that during the third quarter of the year they registered a total of 73 labor conflicts:

– Education: 36.78%

– Health: 12.46%

– Communication: 10.52%

– Others: 40.24%

Additionally, during this time period, wage complaints led labor complaints with 35.69% and layoffs came in second with 23.82%.

Photo: Inaesin.

The entities with the highest number of complaints in this quarter were the Capital District with 66.67%, Bolívar with 7.83% and Miranda with 5.98%.

Labor claims in previous months

The NGO indicated that the 11 labor complaints registered in August corresponded to various sectors such as: communications, health, ministries, oil, petrochemicals, gas, education, electricity and manufacturing industry.

63.64% of these claims were for dismissals, 18.18% for breach of collective agreements and 9.09% for workplace harassment.

Public sector workers led 90% of the conflicts with 72.73% union support.

In July, Inaesin counted 18 protests or labor conflictsthe majority registered in the Capital District (50%), followed by the state of Bolívar (16.67%) and Miranda (11.11%).

Personnel in the educational sector represented 44.44% of the total claims, while workers in basic industries and the media accounted for 11.11% for each sector.

Regarding the complaints, the NGO detailed that 38.89% of the cases demanded decent wages, followed by better working conditions, with the same percentage. In third place were claims for workplace harassment (11.11%), while the rest were due to other reasons.

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