Norwegian Group Violates Labor
and Environmental Righs in
Mainstream Company – a member
of the Norwegian group CERMAQ – is being accused before the PPT of human rights
violations and of damaging the environment in
A report published at the end
of 2007 by the Committee on Fisheries of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade
Unions, claims that the salaries are so low that there is social dumping. There
is no health insurance in case of accidents at work. The employers do not
recognize professional illnesses, and if the employees become ill they lose
their bonus for assitance. The “professional
illnesses” generated by the work in salmon industry’s processing plant are
numerous, including arthritis in hands and arms, cuts with knives and colds for
working in wet places and freezers.
Mainstream is well
known for its anti-union practices. It persecutes both the leaders that
represent the workers and the people who become members of trade unions. There
is a systematic practice of firing workers who are union members.
Mainstream is a
classic example of the neoliberal model, through a model of industrial
relations that intensively exploits labor and natural
resources under a lenient legal framework (it is worth noting that a powerful
business partnership called “Salmon Chile” was created in the country, which
gathers transnational corporations like Mainstream
and renowned national businessmen that jointly defend the corporate interests).
Given the
complicity of the
Key issues: Precarization and exploitation
of labour
Denouncing
organizations: Instituto de Ciencias
Alejandro Lipschutz (