Steel businessmen have warned that 45,000 direct and indirect jobs are at risk as a result of the blockades on national roads. In a similar situation, Camacol and the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure of Valle del Cauca have manifested warning that at least 80 thousand workers could be without work.
As in most of the productive sectors of the country affected by the blockades that occur in the midst of the social protest of the National Strike , construction has seen its activity reduce, generating the loss of jobs, mainly in the southwestern part of the country.
The steel producers unionized in ANDI have warned that as a consequence of the blockades on national roads, 45,000 direct and indirect jobs are at risk. Camacol and the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure of Valle del Cauca have demonstrated in a similar situation, warning that at least 80 thousand workers could be unemployed due to the imminent closure of construction works and plants in this area of the country.
Companies such as Acerías Paz del Río, Gerdau Diaco, Grupo Siderúrgico Reyna, Sidoc and Ternium, which represent 100% of the national steel production, point out that the abnormality that occurs in various areas of the country can directly affect 472,138 workers in the 2,289 construction projects of the country.
It may interest you: Will confidence to buy a home continue?
The builders of the Valley say that to the mobility problems that workers face to get to the works, the shortage of supplies and construction materials is added due to the blockades in different access points to the city, which has generated that 96% of the construction works in Cali and neighboring municipalities are suspended.
The steel industry has recorded losses of $ 248,000 million, reveals an industry report. “The Committee (of the steel companies) assured that it is respectful of the peaceful protest, but that it categorically rejects the blockades that limit the right to free mobility, for which it reiterates its call for dialogue and rejecting any type of violence against the citizenship and the Public Force, ”says the statement from the steel businessmen.
They draw attention to the events that put the stability of national production at risk. They say that the abnormality of public order that has occurred in Cali, Yumbo and Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca) has forced Sidoc to cease its operations, a fact that had not occurred even during the confinements of the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsThey also refer to the blockades on the Sogamoso-Bogotá highway in the Higueras sector (Boyacá), which is a key road corridor for the operation of the steel industry. The obstruction of free movement at this point has put at risk the supply of materials for the construction of the department and the region.
For their part, the picture shown by construction entrepreneurs is no less clear. Taking into account that 84% of workers live in a situation of vulnerability, in strata 1 and 2 and that 89% do not have a source of income other than that of their work on construction sites, the city could face an exacerbation of the social crisis. Homebuying households may also be affected with delays in the delivery of their living quarters.
For more information: How to reactivate employment from the tax point of view?
By 2021 it was projected to start the construction of 30 thousand homes, of which 6,862 would begin between January and April.
María Juliana Ospina, director of the steel companies committee, reiterated the call to the different social and political sectors to create mechanisms for dialogue and agreement. “The blockades violate the rights of millions of Colombians, it is time to address social demands,” he said.
