According to official figures roughly 170,000 people are currently unemployed and 93,000 are underemployed. GDP contraction and a slump in investment were key to higher unemployment in 1999-2000. Real salaries contracted 1.3 percent in 2000 and the number of labor conflicts doubled led by public sector conflicts due to the discussion of the budget bill valid for 5 years. Uruguay has ratified a large number of ILO conventions protecting worker rights and generally adheres to their provisions. The Uruguayan constitution guarantees workers the right to organize and strike, and union leaders are protected by law against dismissal for union activities.
Labor unions are independent of government and political party control.
Sympathy strikes are not illegal. Organized labor has been declining in influence and currently an estimated under fifteen percent of the work force is unionized. Strikes and labor-management conflict have been diminishing over the past years as some of the union leadership appears to be seeking methods of cooperation and negotiation. Unions are beginning to recognize that job protection can be as important as wage levels, and working hours lost from strikes show a clear downward trend. The law allows storage and warehousing, manufacturing, and financial, data processing or other related activity to take place within FTZs.