<p>Port workers on strike in Chile, especially at the Port of San Antonio, may cause tremendous losses for the produce industry. If left unresolved for the next few weeks, it could cost the port sector an estimated $400 million.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Ronald Bown, President of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) recently gave a press conference in Santiago, Chile, according to DF.cl. He urged the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera to get involved in the port conflict. Additionally, Bown commented that the situation is "catastrophic" and "unsustainable" for the port sector, with two strikes in less than 9 months.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Beyond this weekend, we believe the situation will be barely manageable from an operational perspective because it will start to create problems in that we will not be able to keep harvesting the fruit, and therefore this means the loss of fruit,” he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">He said that if the situation is resolved soon, there would be no problem, although he estimates the losses incurred by the shutdown of the ports have already reached $50 million. However, he warned that if the strike persists, the consequences could be dire. “We are talking about approximately US$400m that would be lost in a couple of weeks, and therefore we believe that a solution to this problem must be found immediately,” he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The strike is the result of a ongoing dispute between labor unions and the government, primarily regarding retroactive compensation for lunch breaks. One source tells AndNowUKnow that the Government is meeting with the Port of San Antonio during the course of the strike to try to bring the issue to an end.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.df.cl/paro-portuario-gobierno-evalua-fuerza-publica-y-perdidas-podrian-ascender-a-us-400-millones/prontus_df/2014-01-08/210336.html" target="_new"> DF.cl </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
