Dominican Republic truckers announce indefinite walkout
Santo Domingo.- A dispute over the Malespín construction company’s refusal to hire truckers of the union Fenatrado in Montecristi (northwest), has led the organization to announce an indefinite nationwide walkout on Mon.
Union leader Ricardo de los Santos said that they ‘ve always worked with Malespín and the other contractors nationwide for over 50 years and have now been denied contracts to haul aggregates in Montecristi province.
He said during the walkout, police officers fired tear gas and arrested nine truckers who had chained themselves to a truck. “That’s why we’re paralyzed at the national level and we don’t have a date to restart our work in ports and other areas in which we provide service.”
De los Santos said that Fenatrado has nearly 30,000 trucks and all are stopped until the dispute is solved.
Ports
On Mon. the truckers made good on their threat and caused a slowdown of traffic in and out of Haina port, one of the country’s busiest terminals.