Eduardo Zegarra: “They use figures to justify benefits that do not favor productivity”

—How do you receive the announcement of recovering some guidelines of the Chlimper law?

—The minister’s statements have surprised. In a way, it is not its topic either, since it corresponds to the Midagri and MTPE sectors. Contreras had already announced it before and after that the Government ended up granting an additional exemption for Essalud. Now, they want more goodies from the agro-export sector. Here, clearly, there are business interests that are pushing to obtain benefits, I would say, of the rentier type, with exemptions and subsidies that have nothing to do with productivity.

—Weren’t 100,000 jobs lost with its repeal?

—No, in 2023 the average number of jobs was -8% less than in 2022 and similar to 2021, that is, 42,000 jobs, and it was not due to the new law 31110, but due to adverse effects of the climate. The new law was approved at the end of 2020 and agricultural export employment continued to grow in 2021 until mid-2023. In the second half of 2023, the production of blueberries, mangoes and asparagus began to decline due to rising temperatures on the coast. The problem has been climate, not laws.

—Is that why last year’s record numbers?

—Although there were weather problems in the second semester that affected the production of blueberries and mangoes, shipments and their value in 2023 have continued to increase. For example, the export value of blueberries was 25%, they had a good year. So, effectively, the minister uses the figures to justify benefits that do not actually favor productivity in the countryside, and the worst thing is that they are asking to make this labor protection legislation for workers even more flexible, which was supposedly repealed with the Chlimper law, but that keeps them without CTS, basic rights, vacations or mechanisms to accumulate a retirement fund.

—But it is mentioned that there are no permanent jobs in the sector.

—The regime they have is extremely flexible, it even exceeds basic parameters. When one looks at figures on average, we work between 7 and 9 months each year in the same company or the same activity. This implies that it is not a seasonal job, but rather that it tends to be permanent and should lead to a minimum of indefinite-term conditions, a series of benefits and a more stable employment relationship. But companies only hire them for three months, then others for three, and use an extreme labor rotation mechanism. That takes us to a totally unprotected agricultural sector.

—And the salaries?

—They have been stuck at the minimum established by the norm itself, despite the large increases in exports in recent years. This growth should also be able to be distributed among workers. The model has already reached its limit, It had its moment in a first phase that was interesting. A new type of agro-export scheme is needed today, with more support for cooperatives and processes to promote agricultural growth. But it is not on the Government’s agenda.