Trade union row hits Cargill plant in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 24 (Reuters) - A week-old trade union protest at a Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] soy-crushing plant in Argentina has forced the facility to suspend operations, a union leader said on Monday.

Members of the UATRE union want Cargill to let their members work in the crushing plant and have been blockading the factory in the grains port of Quequen since last Tuesday as they try to advance on another union's turf.

Soy stocks have dwindled, bringing the plant to a standstill on Monday.

"At the moment the plant isn't crushing or processing (and) apparently the company might give paid leave to the workers until the situation gets back to normal," said Carlos Mauco, treasurer of the local branch of the Vegetable Oil Workers' Union, whose members operate all Argentine crushing plants.

"There's no raw materials to take in and the goods can't get out," he told Reuters.

Cargill declined to comment, but in a newspaper advertisement dated Friday the company condemned the protest by the UATRE union, saying the protest had already caused "a severe reduction in Cargill's activities in the local market."

Such labor disputes are common in Argentina, the world's biggest exporter of soyoil and soymeal and the No. 3 supplier of uncrushed beans.

Earlier this year, workers at eight oilseed-crushing plants went on strike over pay while truckers staged an 11-day blockade at soy factories to press for better conditions.

Cargill is one of Argentina's leading exporters of grains and processed agricultural products such as soyoil. (Reporting by Helen Popper; editing by Jim Marshall)