The ''Unión General del Trabajadores de Ecuador'' ("General Union of Workers of Ecuador", abbreviated UGTE) is a
trade union centre in
Ecuador. UGTE emerged after a split in CTE.
[Alexander, Robert Jackson, and Eldon M. Parker. ]
A History of Organized Labor in Peru and Ecuador
'. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2007. pp. 196-197 The founding congress of UGTE was held November 20-21, 1982.
The founding leader of UGTE was Patricio Aldáz.
The organization was awarded legal recognition on September 29, 1994.
UGTE is politically linked to the
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador and the
Democratic People's Movement
The Democratic People's Movement ( es, link=no, Movimiento Popular Democrático, MPD) was the electoral wing of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador (affiliated with the ICMLPO-U&S) and a political party in Ecuador since 1978.
At th ...
(MPD), and forms part of the
Popular Front (composed of UGTE and student groups, launched as an alternative to the mainstream
Frente Unitario de los Trabajadores
The Frente Unitario de Trabajadores (FUT) is a central organizing body for the main trade union centres in Ecuador.
In 1980, FUT was formed by the unification of Confederación Ecuatoriana de Organizaciones Clasistas Unitarias de Trabajadores ...
).
UGTE is not affiliated to any international trade union organization.
Nelson Erazo is the president of UGTE. Kléber Alvarado, a labour lawyer, is the vice-president of UGTE.
As of 2006, UGTE organized 76 trade unions, 1.41% of the total number of unions in the country.
[Vázquez S., Lola, and Napoleón Saltos Galarza. ''Ecuador: su realidad''. Quito, Ecuador: Fundación "José Peralta", 2007. p. 388] UGTE claims a membership of around 40,000. It organizes unions in public and private sectors. The main union of UGTE is the National Union of Educators (UNE), which at one point organized some 100,000 teachers across the country.
Labor
'
Ahead of the
2010 Ecuador coup attempt
The 2010 Ecuadorian crisis took place on 30 September 2010, when National Police operatives blockaded highways, occupied the National Assembly, blocked Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito and José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airp ...
, UGTE voiced opposition to the partial presidential veto on modifications to the proposal for the
Public Service Organic Law. UGTE called for protests against the partial presidential veto. UGTE had also threatened to seize the
National Assembly by force, in protest against the partial presidential veto. Following the defeat of the coup attempt, UGTE was accused of supporting the conspirators.
Lecciones de la victoria contra el golpe contrarrevolucionario en Ecuador
'
References
{{Portal, Organized labour
Trade unions in Ecuador
1982 establishments in Ecuador
Trade unions established in 1982