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My name is Sonia Urrutia Ortiz,
I'm from Salvador.
I'm a representative for the CATS,
the CUTH,
and the STITAS union.
As a union
we denounce everyday
the precarious working conditons
undergone by workers
in the Export Processing Zones.
There are also
some massive dismissals
of trade unions' leaders
and we need an institutionalization
who would allow
the workers from the EPZ
to enjoy the freedom of association.
Also,
in my country
there is an anti-union's culture
among the employers
but also the state institutions
and the Labour ministry.
For example, some officials from
the Labour Ministry
allow the employers
to ignore the unions' guidelines.
Besides the Director of the El Salvador Labour ministry,
who is also the inspections' manager,
is a public official
and was the employers' lawyer.
He boycotted the trade unions
he rattled some collective conventions.
To distribute some prospectus,
call the workers to organize themselves in unions
to be in the places where the workers
can easily reach us,
to adjust our schedules on workers' schedules, ...
To have a legal department
with a team of lawyers
who would provide workers with some advice
related to the labour laws
but also to the family laws
(for women who suffer from domestic abuses for example
or for someone who wants to divorce)
or give any advice on criminal rights,...
We want to provide these services
to organized workers
and unorganized workers.
In this way unorganized workers can already
identify themselves to our organization.
5 years ago
we created
a training centre
for the workers' children.
Each trimester this centre
hosts 280 children
of organized and unorganized workers.