The Union of Transport Workers (UTA) has announced a state of alert and threatened to paralyze transportation services in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA) and other regions if the concession companies do not meet their salary obligations on time and in full. According to the Argentine News Agency, the union has set an ultimatum: strikes will be carried out on all bus lines that do not pay salaries and the half bonus before the fourth business day of December. The union's press secretary, Mario Caligari, was firm in confirming the measure: 'In every company that does not pay wages on the fourth business day, there will be a stoppage,' he stated on Splendid AM 990. Transportation companies allege delays in the sending of subsidies and, in response, have hinted at the possibility of paying the bonus in six installments and salaries in two tranches, a proposal that the UTA has flatly rejected. Caligari also criticized the employers' stance, disassociating the responsibility for the conflict from the workers: 'If it were up to the employers, we would have to pay to work,' he said. He insisted that drivers fulfill their duties 'all 30 days of the month and all 365 days of the year' and must receive their salary within the legal period. If a solution guaranteeing full payment in the coming days does not emerge, urban transportation in the country could face a contentious December, with the risk of a total service shutdown.
