Cerrejón strike, on day 71, remains bogged down in the ‘turn of death’

The strike of Cerrejón workers, in La Guajira, which has already completed 71 days, and although the workers and the company returned to sit at the negotiating table, after mediation by the Ombudsman’s Office, which is monitoring the process trying to to an agreement, until Monday night there was no progress.

The so-called ‘turn of death’ is the one that continues to keep dialogue bogged down. According to the union, Sintracarbón the company only seeks to bring to the negotiating table the implementation of what they call ‘the turn of death’, arguing that it will introduce it gradually, 10 days after the strike is lifted and they resume. the operations. But workers remain in their position that this measure, which according to the company is essential for the survival of the company, will only cause health effects and lead to job cuts.

What the Cerrejón workers call ‘the turn of death’ implies a change in working hours. From the perspective of the company it is 7×3, that is, working 7 days and resting 3. According to the workers, for them it represents working 12 hours a day and if before they worked 15 days a month, now it will be 21 days in the mine, with the Aggravating factor that shifts are reduced: they will no longer be 4 but 3 work shifts. From their perspective, this will mean putting at least 25 percent of the current workforce out of work.