[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2001 1:08 AM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] Strike, occupation in Argentina Reuters. 13 June 2001. Argentine unions disrupt international flights. BUENOS AIRES -- Flag-waving Argentine airline workers delayed some international flights from Buenos Aires Tuesday and threatened to disrupt more flights unless troubled carrier Aerolineas Argentinas renewed recently suspended routes abroad. Workers, protesting a decision by Spanish owners of indebted Aerolineas Argentinas to stop international routes, occupied part of Ezeiza International Airport, stopping some passengers of an Iberia flight to Madrid from leaving. "Flights are arriving but there have been some delays in departures," said an airport official, who asked to remain anonymous. Aerolineas' main union currently is embroiled in tense negotiations with the airline's majority owner, Spain's state holding company SEPI, over a rescue plan. The union said airline workers would block foreign flights unless Aerolineas resumed the routes. Local television showed helmeted riot police with shields lined up outside the airport while protesting workers, some waving Aerolineas flags, gathered nearby. TV pictures showed dozens of workers shouting "Argentina" scuffling with riot police inside the airport. The Iberia flight, targeted because of Iberia's Spanish ownership, was the most seriously affected of the flights. Union officials said it took off without passengers, while airport authorities said some passengers were on the plane. Union workers and local media said an Aerolineas Argentinas airplane had been placed across one of several landing strips at the airport, impeding operations. Airport authorities said they could not confirm the report. Aerolineas -- with $900 million in debt, labor problems and intensifying threats of its imminent bankruptcy and closure -- has stopped flying scheduled flights to eight international destinations. "If Aerolineas Argentinas doesn't fly abroad, then neither will any other foreign company in or out of Buenos Aires," said Ariel Basteiro, head of the Association of Aeronautic Personnel, the airline's main union. In late May, a breakdown in negotiations between SEPI and Aerolineas' unions to reach a new labor agreement led pilots and other workers to storm the main runway and block flights for two hours at Argentina's busiest domestic airport. Mostly peaceful protests in May also forced Spain's Iberia to cancel a flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid and led workers to occupy local offices of SEPI, which owns more than 90 percent of Aerolineas. SEPI has said it would not provide Aerolineas with a needed capital infusion unless all key unions signed off on a rescue plan that would cut workers' salaries by 6 percent to 20 percent in return for job stability. SEPI and the Argentine government have warned that Aerolineas could be forced to cease operations if no deal were reached. Two of Aerolineas' seven unions have not accepted the plan, defending their existing job contracts and arguing that the governments of Argentina and Spain should take more responsibility. The Argentine government, which holds a 5.4 percent stake in the airline, said Monday it would insist to Spain that Aerolineas renew the suspended flights to Miami, New York, Auckland, Sydney, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Tuesday, flights to Madrid were also suspended. If flights were not renewed the Argentine government could auction off the routes to another company, Infrastructure Minister Carlos Bastos told reporters. SEPI is said to be looking to sell its stake in Aerolineas, which was debt-free when privatized in 1990 but now loses $20 million to $30 million a month. Airline sector analysts have said the company may have to be put up for auction or radically restructured to avert financial collapse. * * * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
