Photo: La Izquierda Diario
On August 18, an attorney for Ingeniero White Industrial Park notified Mauro Vargas that he had been fired without cause. Vargas was dismissed a week after the national primary elections, in which he ran as a pre-candidate mayor in the Frente de Izquierda’s slate, led by Nicolas del Caño.
In the past 2013 elections, Mauro Vargas ran as a candidate for the Frente de Izquierda in Bahia Blanca; from that moment on, he has faced four dismissal attempts: first at Dow Chemical where he worked for four years, and most recently at the Industrial Park in Bahia Blanca.
Vargas never received any warnings. All of the unjustifiable dismissal attempts show the companies’ real intentions to persecute him for his political ideals and make a public example of him. He has consistently denounced poor working conditions suffered by hundreds of workers at the Industrial Park and petrochemical factories where many work without a contract as “independent contractors,” with inadequate tools, workwear, and security.
This recent firing is a purely disciplinary action — one often used by capitalists to intimidate workers: to not question anything, to stop them from organizing, and to allow bosses to maintain poor working conditions. This kind of dismissal threatens basic rights: any worker should be able to defend his/her political beliefs and run as a political candidate. This demonstrates the inequality between those who defend corporate interests and those (workers) who take on political tasks and suffer retaliation, as in this case.
Therefore, we call on the company to change its position, reverse the dismissal and reinstate Mauro Vargas to his duties, and put an end to all dictatorial practices.
August 24th, 2015, Bahia Blanca
