The workers of the Northwest Transportation Company CIA. Ltda. of Ecuador continue to wait for a fair response from the Ministry of Labour. In 2016, employees filed a trade union registration form to the labour authorities, but they still haven’t got an answer.
As reported then, 22 workers were dismissed by the powerful and influential employer who chairs the Federation of Heavy Transport in Ecuador and prevents the formation of a union in the company that he owns. The employer threatens to those who are still working and those who have been dismissed have been placed on "blacklists" to prevent them from finding other jobs.
Recently, the BWI Regional Representative, Nilton Freitas, addressed the President of the Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, to make him aware that these violations have have been ignored by the Ministry of Labour. Freitas requested action to make sure that the dismissed workers are reinstalled and that their union registration is accepted.
On the occasion of May Day this year, workers of the nascent union organization expressed their dissatisfaction in the streets of Quito with banners and slogans. Striking workers repudiated the illegal action of the Ministry of Labour and the impunity under which the employer dismisses, intimidates and blacklist workers in the heavy transport industry.