The BWI-affiliated Trade Union of Bricks Industry Workers of the Republic of Argentina (UOLRA) has reported this week that new sanitary and solidarity support measures are being implemented at the national level to provide support to the country’s migrant brick workers and their families.
It said that the Executive government issued a Presidential Decree implementing social distancing and stopping all major brick factories from operating. Workers from these factories will continue receiving their wages.
In order to assist migrant workers, mostly of Bolivian nationality, working in small family-owned brick factories and are non-beneficiaries of the government’s family allowance, UOLRA is negotiating to include them into the Emergency Family Income (IFE). The special allowance will be up to 10,000 Argentine Pesos (about USD 156) during 4 months. UOLRA aims to offset the said workers’ loss of income due to the temporary closure of small brick factories.
Aside from this, UOLRA has launched the second edition of the “Brick Workers Passport”, a document published by the ILO on 4 March, containing important information helpful to migrant brick workers.
UOLRA said that migrant workers account for 80 percent of its members, many of whom are occupying leadership positions.