First modification:
The Argentine transport union demands that the payment of the salary increase that has already been agreed with the companies be fulfilled, a demand was transferred to an operations stoppage that affected the daily activities of thousands of people and that the Ministry of Economy described as a activity carried out by “parasites that intend to extort the State.”
A move that puts pressure on transport companies to comply with the agreement. The “withholding of tasks”, as the Unión Tranviarios Automotor (UTA) of Argentina called the strike this Friday, July 7, stranded thousands of people who had to stand in long lines to take alternatives to go to their jobs or personal commitments .
The metro and subway lines were not enough for those who already had an established route with the buses they use daily.
Many assured that they had to pay large private transport fees for digital platforms, a decision that ended up triggering the demand for this service.
“It’s horrible. I come from Burzaco and I have to get to work. Nobody is taking responsibility for me being able to go to work. They should return everything they stole and I’m sure everyone’s salary will increase,” she told Reuters. Joana Sciroco, a citizen of Buenos Aires who had complications to go to her company.
“It’s very complicated for everyone because we have to pay for a uber either DiDibut it is expensive because there is a great demand,” explained Evelin Schwartzkof.
The strike, which was announced in a UTA statement on Thursday, July 6, began at midnight that day and lasted until 5:30 p.m. local time. It affected 50 lines in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area and short and medium distance services in six other provinces: Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Formosa, Misiones and Tucumán.
“We have verified non-compliance in certain companies of AMBA, La Plata, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Formosa, Misiones and Tucumán. As we stated, tasks will be withheld in those companies that fail to pay the salary increase”, quotes the statement from the UTA.
How did the conflict start?
Members of the UTA assure that the discontent comes from the last joint meeting that was held with the national authorities. At that meeting, the officials agreed to approve a salary increase, but the agreement, in the end, was not signed by the transport companies, who left the place without signing the document.
When the companies were asked for a response to the demand for a salary increase, they assured, as a whole, that they did not have the economic resources to face the expense and asked that the increase in workers be expressed through the state subsidy that they already receive from the government.
“We inform you that we will not allow monopolistic groups that seek to exert pressure on the national authorities to obtain greater economic resources, to generate discussion in the appropriate spaces and instances, and not to use workers and users as hostages of their sectoral orders” says the statement from UTA.
The salary agreement, whose compliance the drivers demand, established to retroactively raise the basic salary to 262,000 Argentine pesos to April, plus a one-time non-remunerative fixed amount of 32,000 pesos.
For May, the basic was established at 284,000 pesos and for June, at 320,000. For the following month, July had been set at 348,800 pesos, 380,192 for August and 414,409 pesos for September.
“This was a strange strike”: Sergio Massa
The Argentine Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, said that the stoppage had been forced by the businessmen.
The official assured that it was the directors of the companies who were looking to “withhold the money from salaries to force the workers to go out into the streets.”
“There are two business groups that intend to take the workers hostage to discuss the bodywork purchase system and they want the State to guarantee their profitability (…) “We believe in the Argentine businessmen who generate work, in those who take risks and bet, But to those who are parasites of the State and intend to extort, we say: we are not afraid of them, we are going to confront them to defend the right of people to travel to go to work”said the minister and presidential candidate.
The day of strike ended with meetings between the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security and the directors of the business chambers that are in charge of transport services in Buenos Aires and the rest of the affected provinces.
With EFE and local media.
