Union Action Causes Further Disruptions on Sarmiento Line

There are delays of up to 45 minutes on the busy Sarmiento line for the second day running as members of the train drivers’ union (UF) continue a work-to-rule protest.

The workers are demanding a compensation payment for the transfer of the train operating company into state hands, as well as a 40% hike in wages. “They must have something against us because they have paid workers on other [train] lines, and with us they don’t say anything,” said union leader Rubén Sobrero yesterday, adding later that “we feel discriminated against”. Sobrero said the measure would continue all week if the government did not act.

Interior and Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo has condemned the protest as “crazy” and an “extortion”, saying he would leave the ministry before paying an indemnity. According to the government, there is no valid claim for compensation because the working conditions have not changed since the train operator was nationalised in October 2013.

“We will not stand for this type of permanent extortion,” added Randazzo, who claimed that over 127,000 working hours have been lost so far in 2014 due to strikes. The government said this morning that commuters could use the 160 buses covering the Sarmiento line route to the western suburbs of Greater Buenos Aires.

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