Brazil & Southern Cone - October 2026

What started as a seemingly routine renegotiation of the collective bargaining agreement of Montevideo dock workers earlier this year escalated into work stoppages that imposed steep costs on the economy, the port’s business outlook, and the government’s political capital. 

After the agreement expired on 31 May, workers at the Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP), a container terminal in the capital’s Old Town that is majority-owned by the Belgian group Katoen Natie, took industrial action in June over a few core demands. These included a reduction in working hours without a corresponding reduction in pay, as well as job and shift guarantees amid concerns over automation.

The most notable action organised by the TCP-Nelsury union and the broader port union (Supra) were a partial shutdown on 29 June and a 72-hour strike in August, followed by work stoppages on 7 September.

While the economic and wage aspects of the proposal were largely accepted by late summer, the conflict escalated sharply when the left-of-centre administration of President Yamandú Orsi imposed a mandatory minimum-service resolution which took effect on 12 September.

This required workers to provide basic services, including a minimum number of processed containers and lorries, during strikes. The unions strongly opposed this, labelling it an arbitrary restriction on their constitutional right to strike. The result was a major 24-hour nationwide port shutdown that began on 21 September.

The national chamber of commerce and services reported massive bottlenecks, with thousands of containers stranded and truck waiting times at the gates spiking up to 18 hours. TCP says the measures together caused losses that, when considering the impact on both the terminal and Uruguay’s foreign trade, could amount to tens of millions of dollars. According to terminal operator Katoen Natie, the port was partially or entirely paralysed during 380 hours this year, largely due to the strike.

The ministry of labour began mediating negotiations, but it was after the presidency got involved that a deal was brokered on 30 September. It establishes the basis for a five-year collective agreement between TCP and port workers, putting to an end a months-long labour dispute. The deal includes increasing guaranteed workdays from 20 to 21 per month, a one-off bonus of Ur$38,750 (US$966), and additional benefits. 

In addition to the bungled government intervention to demand minimum services during a strike, the whole episode highlighted the dependency of Uruguay’s economy on the Montevideo port. The TCP handles roughly 80% of the country’s container traffic, and shutting it down has significant consequences for consumers and businesses alike.

“It affects every sector of economic activity,” Leonardo Loureiro, the president of the confederation of business chambers (CCE), said in August. “It is a very high cost that the country is paying, and it is an issue that needs to be addressed because of its impact on the country’s image.” Indeed, the reputational damage may be the most costly of all. Major shipping lines, including the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), omitted calls or redirected services away from Montevideo to competing regional hubs like Buenos Aires.

Weakened position

Even before the strike, MSC and others had rerouted several calls on Montevideo to Brazilian and Argentine ports, citing TCP’s higher costs. “The move is significant because maritime connectivity depends on the number of regular services that include Montevideo in their rotations. Each lost call reduces options for exporters and importers, raises logistics costs and weakens the port’s position as a regional platform,” news website DatamarNews had reported in June. Transshipments had already fallen 49% last year, meaning Montevideo not only lost volume for the local market but also beyond, a setback to its ambitions of becoming a regional logistics hub.