“Force used against workers’ protest in Jujuy”

Jujuy police and military forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas against workers of the Ledesma group — which owns the largest sugar mill plant in the country — in the midst of a protest yesterday, leaving at least 80 people injured as a result of the violence…The clashes took place at midday, when the northern province’s police riot squad started to fire at over 250 workers when they attempted to enter the Ledesma gas plant in the city of Libertador General San Martín, splitting the protesters into two groups by forcing them inside the mill…The protest had begun last Wednesday, when the union representing Ledesma employees voted in favour of holding a demonstration after the sugar mill company had refused to raise their salaries by 43 percent to counter the depreciation due to inflation…Although the company lamented the incidents, it also stressed how the protesters entered the company’s property illegally, and had violently attacked with sticks and stones the police who were guarding the gas plant . In a statement, company representatives accused the Soeail of provoking the violence, and emphasized “their willingness for dialogue and prudence in wage negotiations.”…Union members are demanding minimum entry salaries of 17,000 pesos per month…However the Ledesma spokesman dismissed their figures, asserting that they had raised employees’ wages by 34.5 percent, which the company says is close to the national level.