Ecuador

5

No guarantee of rights

Same as last year

Region:Americas

Workers' rights violations

Murders

In Ecuador, Sandro Arteaga Quiroz, secretary of the Union of Workers of the Provincial Government of Manabí, was killed on 24 January 2022 on a highway as he was exiting his truck. Quiroz, who at the time of the attack was with one of his sons, was shot at least twice in the head by unidentified gunmen, who then fled the scene. The leader had received death threats via telephone a day before and until hours before the murder. The National Police carried out ground and air operations in search of the assassins. No arrests have been made so far.

Prosecution of union leaders for participating in strikes

Clashes erupted between police and workers who came out to demonstrate on 26 October 2021 in at least three parts of Ecuador as part of the national strike against the government. In Imbabura, in the canton of Peguche, security forces threw tear gas to disperse the citizens. The demonstrations were called by the United Workers' Front (FUT), the Popular Front (FP) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie). Among the demands were a freeze on fuel prices and support for the draft labour code recently presented to the legislature by the FUT, and rejection of the proposed Law for the Creation of Opportunities. At least 37 demonstrators were arrested throughout the country.

Workers’ rights in law

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