Peru: Mobilization against labor flexibilization and reactivation of construction industry

Hundreds of workers throughout Peru took the streets on January 15, against labor flexibilization promoted by employers and to demand that the government of President Martín Vizcarra reactivate the construction industry.

Mobilizations were held in Lambayeque, Arequipa, Loreto, Piura, Lima, Tacna, Cuzco, Huancayo and Huanuco, among other Peruvian provinces, also called by the General Confederation of Workers (CGTP) in which unions affiliated to FTCCP participated as well.

Construction workers affiliated to the Federation of Civil Construction Workers of Peru (FTCCP) also demanded respect for branch collective bargaining, the recovery of 15 years-contributions retirement, regulation of subcontracting as well as fight back the unemployment in the sector.

Since the Lava Jato case uncovered one of the largest money laundering and fraud operations in Brazil in 2014, the entire South American region has been economically affected. The involvement of large employers of construction companies, including executives of N. Odebrecht, has meant thousands of unfinished construction projects not only in Brazil, but also in Peru, which resulted in unemployment and lack of investments in the construction sector.

As a consequence, in 2017 FTCCP promoted a campaign of reactivation of the industry with great energy, emulating a similar action that, since 2016, takes place all over Brazil, with the support of the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI)