- Representatives of the Venezuelan Workers’ Central Union (Alliance of Trade Unions) said that several employees of state companies have been subjected to unjustified dismissals | Main photo: Provea
The Venezuelan Workers’ Union Alliance demanded on Tuesday, August 20, that the government of Nicolás Maduro guarantee the cessation of acts of violence, threats, persecution, and intimidation against workers and union leaders, after having received complaints of dismissals “without just cause” for expressing political opinions.
“We request that the Venezuelan State cease the harassment of individuals or trade union organizations, in relation to the exercise of legitimate trade union or labor activities,” the organization said in a statement published on X (formerly Twitter).
Threats against workers
The Workers’ Union, which did not provide details about the companies or institutions from which the complainants come, urged that job stability be maintained, “as well as the right to have a work relationship free of harassment and violence.”
He also called for an investigation to be launched against public officials, based on their alleged civil, criminal and administrative responsibility, for acts that violate human rights, freedom of association and civil liberties of workers and union leaders.
The organization said it had received complaints about unjustified dismissals for expressing political opinions and ex officio retirements, without prior procedure and without the right to defense.
PCV also denounced harassment
On Tuesday, the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) also denounced illegal dismissals and forced resignations in state institutions and companies.
Among the complaints are workers from Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and the National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec), after the Venezuelan presidential elections were held on July 28, 2024.
“We have news of illegal dismissals and forced resignations in PDVSA, Corpoelec and the health sector,” said the member of the party Jaqueline López, quoted in a press release from the PCV, currently under judicial intervention by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
He also claimed that employees, without specifying which sector, are allegedly threatened and persecuted in their workplaces, after having openly declared their rejection of the government’s management as well as expressing their “doubts” about the outcome of the presidential elections.
In addition, Lopez assured that Workers at the state-owned VTV channel were fired for political reasons, something that the National Union of Press Workers of Venezuela denounced last Thursday through X, where it stated that these employees were removed from their positions for ‘liking’ any publication by opposition leader María Corina Machado or for writing “fraud” in their WhatsApp statuses, in reference to the election results.
Workplace harassment
López also warned about workplace harassment practices that have increased in workplaces linked to the education sector, as well as in “governorships and mayoralties whose locations he did not specify.
This “escalation by the government,” he continued, aggravates the repressive onslaught against the popular sectors that took place in the first days after the elections, when protests against the official election result broke out in the country, leaving more than 2,400 people arrested and 25 dead, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Faced with this situation, López warned of massive repression against vulnerable sectors, while the persecution of leaders and activists of political, social and union organizations also continues.
With information from EFE
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2024-08-21 06:18:53
