The management of Maehara S.A., which produces eggs under the Yemita brand name, sacked the union leaders without any kind of compensation. "We are witnessing an alarming deterioration of labour standards in Paraguay," said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow. In that country, unionised workers are subjected to relentless persecution in what amounts to a constant violation of basic human rights.

It should be pointed out that when victimised workers appeal to the Administrative Labour Authority, they virtually never obtain any positive results; the body’s actions are biased, tendentious, bureaucratic and not conducive to any practical benefits for workers.

In a letter addressed to the Paraguayan authorities the ITUC has demanded the immediate release of the three trade union leaders, who are currently detained at the Posta Gaona police station in the city of Itá. The ITUC urges President Fernando Lugo to promptly take the necessary measures to ensure that workers in Paraguay can enjoy full and unrestricted freedom of association.

"The Paraguayan government must comply with the ILO Core Conventions. It is inadmissible that the Vice-Ministry of Labour should pass a resolution to strike the union at Maehara from the official registry in response to a spurious complaint from the company management, when the law expressly prohibits this kind of interference from the bosses," said a high-ranking Paraguayan trade union official.