Buenos Aires, December 12 (NA) — The virtual meeting held today between the guild representing Air Traffic Controllers, ATEPSA (Technical Association of Employees and Professionals of Air Navigation), and representatives of the Argentine Air Navigation Company (EANA), did not reach any agreement, and the possibility of a strike on December 17 remains, which could affect flights in the country.
According to information reported to the Argentine News Agency by EANA sources, “in today's virtual hearing before the Ministry of Labor, ATEPSA attempted to unilaterally conclude the negotiation instance that is currently underway.”
“The union intends to move directly to the implementation of the force measures announced for next Wednesday, December 17, while EANA reaffirmed its willingness to engage in dialogue and to continue negotiating to reach a solution, as it considers ATEPSA's intransigent stance to be detrimental to the workers,” the state company stated.
In response to this situation, the National Ministry of Labor has set a new hearing for Wednesday, December 17, at 10 a.m. with the objective of continuing to work towards a solution.
The union's demands range from necessary salary adjustments to the crucial complaint regarding the non-compliance with the current collective labor agreement.
This escalation occurs at a time of high political and economic sensitivity in Argentina, coinciding with the upcoming parliamentary debate on labor reform, where the validity and application of collective agreements are a central topic of discussion.
During the month of November, ATEPSA had already implemented intermittent work stoppages by shift, a form of protest that primarily impacted the departure of commercial flights.
As this activity is considered essential, protests must be meticulously designed. Therefore, internal assemblies will be held in the coming days to establish a detailed schedule specifying the exact days and times for the execution of new union actions.
From the union, they stated that they have “gone months without responses, salaries below inflation, and a collective labor agreement that the company continues to disregard.”
They emphasized that EANA “failed to comply with the parity agreement signed over two months ago,” which justifies the deepening of the conflict.
EANA, for its part, argued that the collective labor agreement is fully valid until December and categorically denied any delays in salary payments to its staff, thus dismissing part of the arguments for the protest.
Although the strike plan is currently just an announcement, sources from the National Ministry of Labor indicated that they are closely monitoring ATEPSA's actions and that, faced with the threat of escalating the conflict with a potential impact on international flights, the agency does not rule out applying Mandatory Conciliation, citing a new conflict.
The activation of mandatory conciliation would allow the immediate freezing of ATEPSA's union actions, at least until after the sensitive year-end holiday period, seeking to guarantee the normality of the air transport service.
