Between 22 May and 3 August 2014, Hugo Gonzales Chirico, union leader at steel company Acepar, began a hunger strike in protest against a dispute over a collective bargaining agreement that started in 2001.
Between April and November 2010, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Acepar (SITRAC) went on strike in protest at the company’s failure to comply with the collective agreement in force, failure to respect workers’ human rights and its dismissal of 325 workers, which exacerbated the dispute.
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of SITRAC in July 2009, recognizing the validity of the collective agreement in force. However, the company’s management did not comply with the agreement.