Union Persecution: MOP’s Accounting and Finance Officials Investigated for Supporting a Colleague

Original article: Persecución sindical: Funcionarios de la Dirección de Contabilidad y Finanzas del MOP son investigados por apoyar a colega

The management has initiated disciplinary procedures against employees who expressed solidarity with a dismissed colleague.

A group of workers from the Accounting and Finance Department (DCyF) formally decided to support a colleague from the Los Lagos Region, who faced dismissal from service. Rather than being seen as a gesture of camaraderie, this support was interpreted as an administrative infraction, leading to a direct disciplinary offensive against those who signed the letter.

Carlos Soto, a union leader, condemned the National Directorate’s actions as «anti-union practices» aimed at instilling fear. He argues that Administrative Resolution 1108 opens an investigative process to determine if the signatories «were officially aware of the system in detail» regarding the previous summary of the dismissed worker, under the premise of a supposed leak of sensitive information. “There was no violation because it happened after the sanction,” Soto asserts, adding that the letter arises from a «human concern» for their colleague.

The management’s response involved summoning employees for interrogations to investigate how the letter was drafted, who promoted it, and what information they possessed about the prior process. For the union, this investigation itself is a pressure mechanism, as the letter did not intend to judge «that a public service is pursuing an act of solidarity, which bothers us,» emphasized the leader.

The case of the sanctioned employee, who traveled abroad due to compelling health reasons related to a family member, highlights a rigid policy. According to the union, the service does not consider mitigating circumstances or personal emergencies, imposing automatic dismissals for any infraction, without evaluating context or the years of service of the questioned personnel.

This scenario has created rising tension in the Accounting and Finance Department, where officials warn that the opening of new inquiries for exercising freedom of expression and basic solidarity is fracturing workplace harmony. Workers are already preparing a formal complaint to higher authorities, arguing that using disciplinary power to punish opinions or union support violates fundamental rights and basic standards of public integrity.

Meanwhile, the national management continues to deepen investigations to clarify the source and handling of information within the offices. In the meantime, the affected group of employees remains on edge, awaiting the outcome of these processes under a constant surveillance environment that has put them alert to what they consider an abusive use of administrative power to reduce support among colleagues.