Montevideo Port Dispute: Uruguay Proposes 21 Guaranteed Work Days on 23 September 2026
URUGUAY · LABOUR
Key Facts
- —The country. Uruguay has roughly 3.4 million people. President Yamandú Orsi, of the Frente Amplio coalition, has governed since March 2025.
- —The money. The currency is the Uruguayan peso, near 40.05 to the US dollar in September 2026. Uruguay is a small, open economy whose goods trade moves through very few gateways, so one terminal matters a lot.
- —The background. The fight is at Terminal Cuenca del Plata, or TCP, the container terminal at the port of Montevideo. Katoen Natie is its majority shareholder. Supra, short for Sindicato Único Portuario y Ramas Afines, is the dock workers’ union. The referee is the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, known as MTSS.
- —The news. On Wednesday 23 September 2026 the MTSS presented a three-part proposal: 21 guaranteed work days, a one-off payment to be set between 27,500 and 50,000 pesos, about US$690 to US$1,250, and a new payment for tasks done beyond the collective agreement.
- —What is contested. The company had offered 20 work days and 27,500. The union had demanded 25 and 50,000 a month. Katoen Natie had called its 28 August offer definitive, and the ministry did not name the midpoint it wants.
- —What it means for you. A 24-hour port strike on Monday 21 September 2026 affected 70 percent of container movements, business chambers said. Until a deal is signed, sailing dates through Montevideo stay provisional.
- —The caveat. Neither side had publicly accepted as of 23 September 2026. No reply deadline was reported. The 27,500 and 50,000 figures are Uruguayan pesos, about US$690 and US$1,250 at 40.05 pesos to the dollar on 24 September 2026.
Uruguay’s labour ministry has offered a formula to settle the Montevideo port dispute, and neither side has accepted it.
What the labour ministry put on the table
Uruguay’s Ministry of Labour and Social Security presented a proposal on Wednesday 23 September 2026. Its goal was to close the gap between two sides in a long dispute at the port of Montevideo. The ministry is known in Uruguay by its initials, MTSS.
The dispute is narrower than the phrase “port conflict” suggests. It is not a quarrel with the national port authority. It is a company-level fight over a new collective bargaining agreement at one container terminal.
The two parties are Katoen Natie and Supra. Katoen Natie is the majority shareholder in Terminal Cuenca del Plata, the container terminal known as TCP. Supra stands for Sindicato Único Portuario y Ramas Afines, the union that represents dock workers and related trades.
The proposal has three parts. It sets 21 guaranteed jornales, meaning assured work days. It creates a one-off payment, the “partida extraordinaria”, whose size the two parties must agree between themselves. It also adds a new “partida diferencial excepcional”, a payment for tasks performed beyond the collective agreement.
The MTSS said its text recognised “el esfuerzo realizado por ambas partes para acercar posiciones”. In English: the effort made by both sides to bring their positions closer. That is the ministry’s own framing, and it is not a claim that the dispute is over.
How the port reached this point
The immediate trigger was a strike. On Monday 21 September 2026 Supra held a 24-hour national port stoppage.
The union called that strike to reject a government decree. The decree imposed compulsory minimum services, in Spanish “servicios mínimos obligatorios”. Such a rule forces a minimum level of work to continue during industrial action. Supra said the level demanded was excessive.
Business chambers said the stoppage still bit hard. They reported that 70 percent of container movements were affected, despite the minimum-services decree.
The Confederación de Cámaras Empresariales, a federation of Uruguayan business chambers, was blunt about the cost. It said the conflict worked against “las propias políticas de competitividad e intenciones de crecimiento” — the country’s own competitiveness policies and growth intentions.
Uruguayan media reported on 22 September 2026 that the ministry was preparing a fresh proposal. It arrived the next day. Katoen Natie had already made an offer on 28 August 2026, and the company said that offer was framed in definitive terms. Whether it now moves is the central open question.
The figures, and the currency behind them
On work days the gap was narrow. The company had offered 20 guaranteed jornales. The union had demanded 25. The ministry landed on 21.
On the one-off payment the gap was wide. The company offered 27,500. The union asked for 50,000 a month. The MTSS proposed that the parties meet at a midpoint, but it did not say what that midpoint should be. It left the number to them.
One point matters for readers outside Uruguay. Those figures are Uruguayan pesos, not United States dollars. Uruguayan newspapers write the peso with a plain dollar sign, which is easy to misread. At 40.05 pesos to the dollar on 24 September 2026 they come to about US$690 and US$1,250. No source published an official equivalent, so treat these as conversions at the day’s rate.
What is not known matters as much as what is. Neither party had publicly accepted the proposal as of 23 September 2026. No deadline for a reply was reported anywhere. The ministry has not published the midpoint figure it has in mind.
So the correct description today is simple. There is an offer on the table from the government, and there is no agreement.
What it means if you ship, buy or live in Uruguay
Montevideo is Uruguay’s main maritime gateway, and TCP is its container terminal. The practical risk here is schedule risk, not price risk.
If you import or export through Montevideo, treat sailing dates as provisional for now. The 21 September stoppage showed what a single day of action can do to container flows.
If you run a small business that depends on imported stock, build extra days into your delivery promises. A proposal is not an agreement. The terminal operator and the union can each still say no.
For residents, the visible effect so far is indirect. No source reported shortages or price rises tied to the conflict.
The next clear signal will be a public answer from Katoen Natie or from Supra. Until one of them speaks, the ministry’s three-part formula remains exactly that: a formula, waiting for a reply.
Sources
- El Observador — MTSS presenta propuesta
- Radio Monte Carlo — nueva propuesta del Ministerio de Trabajo
- la diaria — el paro nacional en los puertos
- NODAL — propuesta para destrabar el conflicto
FAQ
What is Supra?
Supra is the Sindicato Único Portuario y Ramas Afines, the union for dock workers and related trades in Uruguay. It is one of the two parties in this dispute. The other is Katoen Natie, majority shareholder in the TCP container terminal.
Are the 27,500 and 50,000 figures in dollars?
No. They are Uruguayan pesos, about US$690 and US$1,250 at 40.05 pesos to the dollar on 24 September 2026. Uruguayan newspapers write the peso with a plain dollar sign, so the figures are easy to misread, and no source published an official equivalent.
Has the dispute been settled?
No. As of 23 September 2026 neither Katoen Natie nor Supra had publicly accepted the ministry’s proposal. No deadline for an answer was reported.
How badly did the strike affect cargo?
Business chambers said 70 percent of container movements were affected by the 24-hour stoppage on Monday 21 September 2026. That happened despite a government decree requiring minimum services during the strike.
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