Unions in Ecuador demand respect and protection for workers

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Representatives of Ecuador’s labor unions demanded respect for workers’ rights through slogans focused on their protection against the advance of Covid-19, in a vehicle motorcade in Quito to celebrate Labor Day.

“May 1st, life first,” read one of the posters placed on several of the vehicles involved in the motorcade that began in the northern center of Quito, traveling to the city center and ending in the south of the capital.

The vehicle procession replaced the traditional workers’ march which this year found several provinces of the country in a state of emergency and with curfews to try to stop the advance of Covid-19.

The curfew is in force from Monday to Thursday from 8 PM to 5 AM.

From 8 PM this Friday night until 5 AM on Monday morning, for the second consecutive weekend, a strict curfew will be in effect, in which only personnel from strategic sectors and other areas specified by decree are allowed to travel.

The high rates of contagion are also worrying workers, who displayed posters in the motorcade demanding “urgent” Covid tests and vaccinations.

Other posters rejected the possibility of “labor flexibilization” which could further undermine workers, while from the vehicles white balloons hung with the caption “No to the privatization of strategic areas.”

The vehicles also carried red flags representing the trade union organizations, as well as banners with the words “In defense of employment and health.”

“We don’t want them to give us anything, we demand that they stop violating our rights,” “Our rights are not for sale. 1 May 1st, fighting,” read other posters carried by some of the demonstrators, who also protested against corruption and impunity.