Buses at the Retiro terminal (photo: Beatrice Murch)
Road transport union UTA today ratified a national bus strike for Wednesday as part of an ongoing conflict over wages.
UTA Secretary General Roberto Fernández confirmed that the measure would begin at midnight on Wednesday and last 24 hours, affecting short, medium, and long-distance bus lines throughout the country.
“Since January we have been trying to negotiate a salary increase,” declared Fernández in a radio interview this morning. “If we have to take measures to make a fair wage claim, we’ll take them”.
The union is demanding a basic salary increase of 30%, but says that bus companies are delaying a wage hike until they reach an agreement with the government over transport subsidies. “We are like the ham in a sandwich, because we are caught between two powers [in a dispute] that we have nothing to do with,” added the UTA leader.
Though the strike has been confirmed by the union, Fernández said he was still open to dialogue before then. “The bus companies and politicians are going to have to start working today to avoid the strike,” he said, nothing that further action could be taken if an agreement is still not forthcoming.
Interior and Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo urged the UTA to be “rational”. “I want to appeal to the common sense of the union leaders to call off this action that harms everyone, especially the passengers,” said Randazzo in a press conference this morning.
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