This Friday there will be a strike subwaybecause the workers of the Union Association of Subway and Premetro Workers (AGTSyP) will carry out a new day of protests in claim to have two weekly francs.
The measure of strength of the union is due to the refusal of the concessionaire Emova to “reduce the working day”. Consequently, the workers will release the turnstiles at the filling stations. subway of Line E and Premetro and then they will cease activities in the transport service.
Through a press release, the Association explained that the turnstiles of line E and the Premetro will be released between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Later, the provision of the service will be suspended subway from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m..
The workers demand two days off, due to the intense working hours and the presence of asbestos in the units was confirmed, so they seek to spend less time in these to reduce health risks.
This is because, despite the constant demands of the sector, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires has not yet replaced the units that contain asbestos, even the sector denounces that several workers have suffered health problems or have been diagnosed with cancer.
“The concessionaire refuses to reduce the working week so that the workers have two francs; there is a lack of personnel in all sectors and also an inexplicable delay by the Buenos Aires government to acquire a new fleet to replace the trains with asbestos material, so that the forceful measures will continue tomorrow – for today,” the statement said.
In this sense, they invite businessmen “to reflect so that they modify their actions, which harm users and workers, and apologize to those who are affected by a self-defense measure in pursuit of rights and security”.
What does Emova say?
Given the force measure announced by the workers, the Emova company explained that “the increase in the number of francs maintaining the 6-hour daily shift (a condition that AGTSyP has repeatedly raised) is unfeasiblesince it implies a reduction in the weekly workday from 36 to 30 hours per week, incompatible with an adequate operation of this essential service and below reasonable levels of productivity”.
However, they assure that they keep “the channels of dialogue open to avoid any forceful measure that affects the service and that harms the more than 900 thousand users who every day choose the Network of subway to move around the City of Buenos Aires”.