In a telephone interview, a staff member of the Cuesta Duarte Institute, a documentation centre dedicated to gathering and disseminating information related to trade unions in Uruguay and affiliated with the umbrella labour organization PIT-CNT, provided the information that follows (15 Mar. 1993). The staff member stated that this interview did not constitute the institute's official response to a DIRB request for information on the Sindicato Unico de la Construcción y Afines (SUNCA). A written brief on the requested subject will be forwarded shortly to the DIRB. A copy of this brief will be forwarded to the requester immediately upon receipt.

SUNCA was founded in the early 1940s (Ibid.). The union is one of the largest in Uruguay, with branches all over the country, and is affiliated with the PIT-CNT. SUNCA was a main target of repression during the military dictatorship of the 1970s and early 1980s. Its headquarters were taken over by the government and turned into a police station, and SUNCA members were subject to human rights abuses. Since the late 1980s, however, SUNCA has not faced any government repression (Ibid.). The only reference to SUNCA the DIRB could find in the Jesuit Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) of Uruguay annual reports on human rights in Uruguay for 1991 and 1992 was with regard to the participation of the Sindicato Unico de la Construcción y Ramas Afines (as spelled in the 1991 SERPAJ annual report) in a tripartite commission (SERPAJ 1992, 33). This commission, which has included the Chamber of Construction (a business association) and the General Inspection Office of Social Security, reportedly worked to establish legislation on hygiene and safety in the construction trade (Ibid.).

Instituto Cuesta Duarte, Montevideo. 15 March 1993. Telephone Interview with Staff Member.

Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ). 1992. Derechos Humanos en Uruguay: Informe 1991. Montevideo: Servicio de Paz y Justicia.