Public transport in several provinces of the country will be paralyzed this Thursday, August 22 and Friday, August 23 due to a bus strike called by the Unión Tranviarios Automotor (UTA) and ratified this Wednesday after the failure of a meeting at the Ministry of Labor. The conflict originated due to the lack of salary agreement between workers and transport companies, in addition to the crisis caused by the lack of subsidies for the provinces, in contrast to the benefits received by the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (Amba).
The 48-hour strike, which will affect both urban and interurban services, highlights the deep inequalities in the distribution of subsidies between the Amba and the provinces. While the metropolitan region has substantial support from the national government, the rest of the country faces a scenario of underfunding that seriously compromises the operation of public transport.
According to the Argentine Federation of Passenger Transporters (Fatap), unfavorable economic conditions in the interior make the service unsustainable without an increase in subsidies. “The lack of subsidies and inadequate rates have led us to a critical situation,” they said, highlighting that the elimination of national subsidies only deepens the differences with Amba.
On the other hand, the secretary general of the UTA, Roberto Fernández, expressed his concern about the lack of a solution that takes into account the reality of the interior of the country. “We demand an agreement that respects the needs of the provinces and guarantees a decent salary for transport workers,” said Fernández, while confirming the strike as a response to the lack of concrete proposals.
Faced with this complex situation, the national government – which did not make any proposal to try to resolve the conflict – asked for compulsory conciliation to avoid the strike, but the UTA stood firm. “We cannot continue with this discrimination towards the interior,” said Fernandez, stressing the need to review the subsidy system to guarantee equitable public transport throughout the country.
No strikes: in which cities did they reach a wage agreement?
With the latent proposal of a strike, some national jurisdictions managed to move forward and close wage agreements to avoid the strike. This is the case of Tucumán and Mendoza, who closed their collective bargaining negotiations this week.
A similar situation occurred in the cities of Bariloche and Rosario, where last-minute agreements were reached, meaning that transport services will be guaranteed for the next two days.
