Negotiations over 39 workers dismissed by Conarpesa have become entangled in a condition unrelated to reinstatement. Fernando Álvarez Castellano, president of the Puerto Madryn fishing company, said he would not attend hearings called by Chubut's Labor Secretariat unless José Díaz, union secretary of the Food Industry Workers' Union, took a toxicology test. The businessman promised to undergo the same check and publicly disclose his result.
The demand followed Díaz's accusation that Álvarez Castellano used drugs, amid a confrontation that had already included a union complaint over alleged telephone threats against the official. The labor dispute began when the company dismissed 39 people accused of occupying the plant's administrative offices on July 15. Personal statements have displaced the discussion of those events and now determine whether the institutional dialogue can proceed.
The previous week's conciliation hearing produced no progress because Conarpesa did not send its executives. The company confirmed the 39 dismissals in writing and denied the existence of a collective dispute. STIA general secretary Luis Núñez called the terminations arbitrary and said the new corporate demand was a maneuver to avoid the hearings and evade an answer about the workers' situation.
The dismissed employees reject the allegation of violence linked to their presence in the offices. Vladimir Rodríguez, one of those affected, said photographs and videos show a peaceful protest. He explained that the action sought compliance with a previously agreed seasonal activation. Most of those who lost their jobs are permanent seasonal workers, some with up to 17 years of seniority, and many are women who depend on the fishing industry.
Conarpesa has also challenged the mandatory conciliation order and argues that the dismissals are justified by serious misconduct. The union and employees are waiting for a ruling from the Labor Secretariat, while Álvarez Castellano maintains that his attendance depends on Díaz taking the test. The company thus links participation in a labor proceeding convened by provincial authorities to a personal dispute that resolves neither the validity of the dismissals nor the demand for reinstatement.
The next move belongs to Chubut's labor authority. It must rule on the challenge to conciliation and channel a conflict in which the company has already missed one hearing. Until that decision is made, the 39 dismissals remain confirmed, the workers maintain that their action was peaceful, and dialogue is blocked by a toxicology condition that has taken center stage in negotiations originally intended to address jobs.
