After meeting with Government officials in the Labour Ministry, business leaders from the Chamber of long distance buses said that they had failed to reach an agreement and that “the strike remains in effect,” as they warned about a possible scenario in which they would have to dismiss between 12 and 15 thousands bus drivers.
“In this situation we will have to dismiss between 12 and 15 thousand workers,” said Mario Verdaguer, the head of the Long Distance Business Chamber (Celadi) after exiting the meeting.
On the fifth day of a long distance bus drivers’ strike that has stranded over 100,000 passengers all over the country, the Ministry called on business leaders and UTA unionists to meet but negotiations could not move forward.
“The answer was that there’s no more money for subsidies, that there is a dismantling policy for subsidy programmes,”
Labour Minister Carlos Tomada met with all parts involved in the negotiation, and was joined by the head of the Secretary of Transport Alejandro Ramos.
After the meeting, Verdaguer confirmed that “the strike remains in effect” and admitted that they will ask for financial aid, “either with subsidies or in any way we can.”
“It’s hard to understand how it’s possible that the UTA has not lifted the strike even after we complied with their demands,” he said.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald