The conflict began in May 2025, when Sutma (Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores del Mar y Afines), led mainly by the CommunistParty, together with other unions such as SUDEPPU and CMN, started a strike that paralyzed a large part of the fishing fleet.
The union is demanding the addition of one more crew member per vessel to stand helm watches (or deck watches) while the captain rests, with the aim of enjoying rest periods.
Sutma's unionists argue that workdays on fishing vessels are long, and that workers are neither qualified nor required to perform certain watch duties.
Local del PIT-CNT
Business chambers, represented by the Cámara de Industrias Pesqueras del Uruguay (CIPU) and the Cámara de Armadores Pesqueros del Uruguay (CAPU), maintain that the union's demand violates current collective bargaining agreements.
These were signed in 2024 with a three-year duration, as well as the Service Regulations for Crews on National Merchant Vessels.
According to business owners, helm watches are a duty established by regulations, and the union's demand is an "absurdwhim" that causes million-dollarlosses.
Development of the conflict
Since early June 2025, Sutma paralyzed 33 coastal fleet vessels and 21 deep-freeze trawlers, affecting the capture, processing, and export of fish.
Local del Sutma
The measure intensified after negotiations failed at the Ministry of Labor on June 16, confirming the wildcat strike.
On June 16, CIPU met with a PIT-CNT negotiator at the MTSS, but no agreement was reached.
The union insisted on hiring an additional crew member, while companies considered that this breaches the agreements.
PIT-CNT supports the radicals
PIT-CNT issued a statement on June 17 supporting Sutma.
The union confederation sided with the bureaucrats who lead the union, turning its back on the vast majority of fishing workers.
Huge losses due to the union
Companies estimate weekly losses of between 1,500 and 2,800 metric tons (3,307 and 6,173 pounds) of fish, equivalent to 6 million dollars.
If the conflict persists, they project monthly losses of up to 6,000 metric tons (13,227 pounds).
A specific example: Novabarca canceled an export deal for 2,500 metric tons (5,512 pounds) for 4.5 million dollars due to the wildcatstrike.
Union dictatorship
Sutma is led by radicals from the Communist Party.
They are not interested in seeking a solution to the alleged labor problems of the sector's wage earners; what they intend is to harm the business sector, hinder a relevant industry in the country, and gain ground within PIT-CNT.
The union bureaucrats who command Sutma enjoy unionleave, meaning they receive their salary but do not work.
They are artificiallymanufacturing a conflict, ruining thousands of families who depend on jobs in the fishing sector.
Sutma exercises unionbullying. The Communist Party uses unions for its dark partisan political purposes.
Afiche
Just as in Sunca they committed a mega fraud of 1,200,000 dollars by looting the Construction Fund, in the fishing sector they are generating an artificialconflict.
Impact on workers
Hundreds of workers, including stevedores, transporters, processing plant operators, and suppliers, are affected by the stoppage.
Many workers not affiliated with Sutma have protested against the union, accusing it of preventing them from working and calling it a "uniondictatorship".
Those who lead Sutma are totalitarian communists who do not respect the sector's own workers.
They are bullies who want to impose their way of thinking and acting on others.
It has been almost a month of labor conflict and workdays and millions of dollars continue to be lost due to a wildcat strike imposed by a handful of union bureaucrats who have turned their backs on honest workers.
