Buenos Aires, December 16 (NA) — Workers on the B subway line will open access to Federico Lacroza station this Wednesday between 7:00 and 18:00 as part of protests they are carrying out due to what they consider to be inadequate sanitary conditions for their work, due to the presence of asbestos in the trains and workshops. Additionally, from 7:30, they will hold a press conference there to announce new measures of force that will be implemented in the coming days. In a statement, delegates stated: 'As is public knowledge, with AGTSyP we have been denouncing for years the health crisis we are suffering in the subway network due to the presence of carcinogenic asbestos and the tragic consequences it causes among workers and users (hundreds of affected, sick, and deceased)'. For this reason, 'we continue to demand the City Government declare an Operational Emergency for line B, a fact that would allow for the urgent responses that the line needs until the arrival of the new fleet, the replacement of the track layout, the restoration of comprehensive maintenance programs, and the total de-asbestosisation of the network'. Likewise, they pointed out that 'in this context, in recent weeks, the concessionaire company Emova has illegally intervened on elements contaminated with asbestos in several Mitsubishi trains circulating on line B, dispersing fibers of the carcinogenic material and exposing millions of people to contamination with every trip'. 'This crisis is further exacerbated by the hollowing out of sectors, lack of investment and maintenance, trains over 70 years old, obsolete tracks, and stratospheric fares that bear no relation to the terrible service provided by the concessionaire company,' they added in the note, to which the Argentine News agency had access. Finally, they emphasized that 'to this campaign of harassment with sanctions and compulsory and unjustified salary deductions against delegates and workers are added cases of sexual harassment and workplace violence such as the one suffered by Araceli Pintos, a worker who was fired from the company as retaliation for reporting the incident'.
