Buenos Aires, April 8 (NA) — The Automotive Transport Union (UTA) announced that starting at midnight it will reduce its services, which will result in less frequent buses in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), amid a conflict caused by a lack of funds to pay salaries. The measure will be implemented by companies that have not yet received payments from the government, after having reduced frequencies by 30% in recent hours, which caused a disruption that affected thousands of users. Although the government stated that it had already transferred the money, UTA leadership warned that these funds were not sufficient for all companies and, for this reason, called a strike. “Finding ourselves on the fourth business day of the month, and without having fully complied with the payment of March salaries in certain AMBA companies, it is resolved to withhold tasks as of 00 hours on April 9, in those companies that have not canceled the entirety of their earnings, as a measure of self-defense for the represented workers,” UTA assured in a statement. This involves a hundred affected lines, and among those that would join the strike are lines 1, 2, 10, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 28, 33, 37, 45, 53, 59, 60, 70, 86, 91, 89, 100, 111, 130, and 152, among others. Likewise, regarding the reduction of frequencies and the lack of provincial and state subsidies, UTA added: “We want to get paid and we will defend our jobs.” Meanwhile, this Thursday a meeting will be held at the Secretariat of Transport to discuss the demand for greater subsidies to cover the increase in diesel and avoid new conflicts that affect service in the AMBA. The meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m. at the headquarters of the Transport portfolio, where representatives from the chambers CEAP, CETUBA, CTBPA, and CEUTUPBA will attend. On Wednesday morning, and as learned by the Argentine News agency, passenger transport companies sent a letter to Minister of Economy Luis Caputo, warning that, without an update in the cost structure and the payment of outstanding subsidies, they will not be able to guarantee the service or pay the drivers.
