ARGENTINA: Thousands of Bolivians take to the streets of Buenos Aires to protest poor working conditions and low wages.

Record ID: 447846

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Thousands of Bolivians take to the streets of Buenos Aires to protest poor working conditions and low wages.
  • Date: 6th April 2006
  • Summary: (LATIN) BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (APRIL 5, 2005) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOLIVIAN PROTESTORS, DEMONSTRATING IN THE STREET, CHANTING AGAINST "KOREAN AND JEWISH EXPLOITERS" AND CARRYING BOLIVIAN FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PABLO CUESTAS, BOLIVIAN WORKER, SAYING: "Sometimes we have to take on certain situations, in situations of poverty, therefore we want to protest and we want to have better working conditions as the law demands." PROTEST ORGANISERS ASKING PEOPLE TO SIT DOWN IN THE STREET BOLIVIAN PROTESTORS SITTING IN THE STREET WITH A SIGN SAYING "WE ARE WORKERS, NOT SLAVES" VARIOUS OF PROTESTORS WITH CHILDREN SITTING IN THE STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JUAN CARLOS, PROTESTOR, SAYING: "They don't give us legal work. They don't accept us. They are the ones that are avoiding taxes. We are asking the big exploitative companies for fair prices because we have been working our tails off since the nineties." VARIOUS OF PROTEST ORGANISERS TALKING TO PROTESTORS THROUGH MEGAPHONE
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Employment,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAKTHPVSA60TCR943XVQWUU0NN
  • Story Text: Thousands of Bolivians marched in Buenos Aires on Wednesday (April 05) to protest against sweatshop-like conditions in Argentine factories, a week after a city fire killed six of their compatriots.
    Since the blaze, which killed children and adults living inside a clothing factory, the city has cracked down on makeshift garment plants and local media have probed what they term modern-day slavery among Bolivians.
    Many of those gathered, like worker Pablo Cuestas, railed against the poor working conditions that Bolivians had been forced to accept.
    "Sometimes we have to take on certain situations, in situations of poverty, therefore we want to protest and we want to have better working conditions as the law demands," said Cuestas.
    While some protesters held signs saying "We are workers, not slaves," most cried out for better prices for the clothes they make.
    "We are asking the big exploitative companies for fair prices because we have been working our tails off since the nineties," a man named Juan Carlos said between chants as he marched through the working-class neighborhood of Flores.
    About one million Bolivians are believed to be living in Argentina, a comparatively prosperous nation that drew many immigrants from the region, particularly when the Argentine peso was pegged to the U.S. dollar in the 1990s.
    Many immigrants from Bolivia, South America's poorest country, have no working papers in Argentina and work up to 20 hours a day for low pay. Some report having endured indentured servitude, paying back travel costs with their labour.
    In the last week, the city government has raided dozens of these makeshift factories and nearly 25 of them had been shut down as of Tuesday night (April 4), an official at the city's production ministry said.
    Some Bolivian protesters have criticized the operation because they are worried about losing their jobs and, in some cases, their housing.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register