The decision made by Maregroup, a tobacco company with Chinese investors, surprised everyone in Florida, the Uruguayan city located 100 kilometers from Montevideo where the company was based. The company closed without any prior notice, and it never paid the salaries owed to its employees, nor did it pay the licenses that were due in January. It also failed to fulfill its promise to replace the machinery.
"The Chinese employees who left for the Chinese New Year did not return. They stopped responding to messages, they didn't answer emails, they don't respond to anything," the workers said in an interview on the Telemundo news program on Channel 12.
The employees are now unsure of what to do and claim that since February, when the top executives left, there has been no one in a high-ranking position with the authority to make decisions. "We want to see if we can reach them so they will pay us, even through political channels: the president, the mayor, the ambassador, to see if we can get any kind of response," the laid-off workers demanded.
A group of non-unionized workers also issued a public letter in which they state that the lack of information from the company prevents them from accessing certain subsidies.
The mayor of Florida, Carlos Enciso, who previously served as the Uruguayan ambassador to Argentina, also expressed his concern about this news. He did so through a letter he sent to the Chinese ambassador to the country, Huang Ya…
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Maregroup, a Chinese-owned tobacco company in Florida, Uruguay (Telemundo/Channel 12 capture).
The decision made by Maregroup, a tobacco company with Chinese capital, surprised everyone in Florida, the Uruguayan city located 100 kilometers from Montevideo where it was based. The company closed without prior notice and never paid the wages owed or the licenses that were due in January. It also failed to replace the machinery it had promised. "The Chinese who left for the Chinese New Year did not return. They stopped responding to messages, they didn't answer emails, they don't respond to anything," said the workers, interviewed on the Telemundo news program on Channel 12. The employees now don't know what to do and say that, since February, when the top executives left, no one of high rank or with decision-making power remained. "We want to see if we can reach them so they will pay, even through political channels: the president, the mayor, the ambassador, to see if we can get some kind of response," said the laid-off workers.
Maregroup, a Chinese-owned tobacco company in Florida, Uruguay (Telemundo/Channel 12 capture).
A group of non-unionized workers also issued a public letter in which they claim that the company's lack of information prevents them from accessing certain subsidies. The mayor of Florida, Carlos Enciso, who was the ambassador of Uruguay to Argentina in the previous government, also expressed his concern about this news. He did so through a letter he sent to the Chinese ambassador to the country, Huang Yazhong. In the letter, he described that both the departmental government, the free zone, and the workers are concerned about the decision to halt all activity and lamented the "uncertainty" that the measure creates for "numerous families in Florida." "The concern is even greater when we realize that the company has not only halted its activity, but has also closed all access to its facilities and has removed essential equipment that has not been replaced," wrote Enciso. In addition, he criticized the fact that the tobacco company did not appoint anyone "to talk to" and said that all contact was lost.
Carlos Enciso Christiansen.
Maregroup was dedicated to the production of cigarettes, their packaging, and subsequent export. It began operations in 2016 and started production in 2017, according to data cited by Enciso. During periods of high demand, it employed up to 100 workers and then maintained a stable workforce of 40 direct employees. Most of the people who worked there were families from the local community. Maregroup operated using between four and six warehouses in the Free Zone of Florida, which are intended for the manufacture and packaging of its products. Enciso continued his appeal: "With this attitude, neither the workers nor the Free Zone itself have ways to dialogue and seek amicable solutions regarding unpaid obligations or wages by the Maregroup company, and even less to find viable ways to continue the productive and labor activity of the company."
Carlos "Pájaro" Enciso, the "Pájaro" list.
"Furthermore, the company should manage various labor rights for the workers with the competent authorities, which has not happened and causes great concern," he added. Mayor Enciso asks in the letter that the ambassador offer his "good offices" to "explore and facilitate possible ways to overcome the existing difficulties, so that the company can continue its operations in our country, contributing to the local economic development and reaffirming the historical and cordial ties that unite the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and the People's Republic of China." Enciso concludes his letter with a request for an interview with the ambassador to inform him "firsthand" about the situation caused by this company and to "exchange opinions and possible lines of action" to reverse it.