An employee of a collective farm sorts grain at a threshing floor in the village of Krasnoye, some 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Russia's southern city of Stavropol July 18, 2011.EDUARD KORNIYENKO/REUTERS
Workers at Argentina's food and animal health agency started a five-day pay strike Monday, delaying grains shipments from one of the world's biggest suppliers of corn, wheat and soy.
In the agricultural export hub of Rosario, ships were stuck in port waiting for the necessary permits from the country's Senasa agency, a shipping industry official said.
"The boats aren't leaving because Senasa's white-collar workers, the ones who sign the departure permits, aren't signing them," said Guillermo Wade, head of Rosario's port and maritime chamber.
The strike is affecting only grains shipments, not cargos of soy oil and soy meal. Argentina is the world's top exporter of the soy byproducts.
Senasa's white-collar staff, who are demanding a pay rise and extra benefits, staged a separate three-day walkout last week. Talks with bosses are deadlocked.
"Until now we've not had any sign that they're going to call us in for talks. The strike will continue all week," said Carina Maloberti, a representative of the ATE state workers' union.
Pay is a sensitive issue in Argentina, where private economists estimate that consumer price inflation is running at more than 20 per cent a year.
The strike takes place at a busy time for Argentine ports because farmers recently finished gathering a hefty soy crop. Corn harvesting also is close to its end.
Argentina exported 16.6 million tonnes of corn and 12.2 million tonnes of soybeans last year, according to Agriculture Ministry data.