ARGENTINA: Hundreds of Bolivians protest in Buenos Aires over government crackdown after factory fire kills six

Record ID: 447894

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Hundreds of Bolivians protest in Buenos Aires over government crackdown after factory fire kills six
  • Date: 4th April 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ISABELLA CEVALLOS, BOLIVIAN WORKER, SAYING: "We work from eight in the morning until eight at night, and it depends on the work how much our wage is. If some people want a little more money, they work an hour more. But obviously some want to rest, and they rest. The work isn't compulsory."
  • Embargoed: 19th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4RL0C0I9UYHU2FCUTNFODXQAO
  • Story Text: Hundreds of members of Argentina's Bolivian community took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Monday (April 03) to protest over the closure of illegal factories.
    The protests came just four days after a fire in one of the factories killed six Bolivians, four of them children. With the government announcing an investigation into conditions within the factories, many protesters were afraid that the measures would mean the loss of work and in many cases, of a roof over their heads.
    According to Argentina's Under-secretary for Human Rights, Eduardo Luis Duhalde, the factories are being investigated for alleged slave labour, with the whole chain of production under scrutiny.
    "(Along with) an investigation into the possibility of people being reduced to servitude, and the slave work of these factories, we must also investigate who are the ones who benefit from this work, through the acquisition and commission of the products that they fabricate," he said.
    But as government officials began raids on Monday (April 03) on more than 270 textile factories in the Argentine capital, checking documentation, many of the workers employed there were afraid that the measure would mean a loss of livelihood for entire families.
    One worker, Isabella Cevallos, admitted the hours were long but added that extra hours were not compulsory and the wage reflected how much time you put in.
    "We work from eight in the morning until eight at night, and it depends on the work how much our wage is. If some people want a little more money, they work an hour more. But obviously some want to rest, and they rest. The work isn't compulsory," she said.
    But given that many of the workers live in the factories where they work, some were afraid of ending up without jobs or homes as the government crackdown took force.
    With immigration officials also checking documentation as part of the crackdown, workers feared their livelihood would be taken away, with several supporting entire families on the meagre wages.
    The Bolivian consul in Argentina, Albaro Gonzalez Quint, met with city mayor Jorge Telerman to discuss the situation.
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