New strike at the three tire factories: the conflict has been going on for more than three months

New strike on Friday in the three tire factories: Fate, Pirelli and Bridgestone. It is a new chapter in the escalation of tension in a conflict that has lasted for nearly 130 days. The novelty is that this time there will be no blocks in the accesses to the factories. The workers will work an eight-hour shift at each location.

It is due to a new failure in the negotiations between the tire union and the companies in the sector. The Single Union of Argentine Tire Workers (SUTNA) called the strike after the meeting on Wednesday between the parties at the Ministry of Labor.

Last week the union had called a strike for two consecutive days that finally ended in the middle due to the vacation decreed by the government last Friday after the attack on vice president Cristina Kirchner.

But also on Thursday, the first of the two days of strike called at the Pirelli, Bridgestone and Fate plants, the infamous lack of grip was recorded which highlighted the usury between the union and many of the workers, after months of conflict with no solution in sight.

Already last week, the trade union led by Alejandro Crespo also had to remove the blocks with which it had decided to accompany the protest. This turn will stop directly without blocking.

Although throughout Thursday there was a strike in the three factories that produce tires in the country, all located in Greater Buenos Aires, SUTNA had decided to prevent the entry and exit of people during the entire shift that was to last the protest .

Which in the end did not materialize: the union first lifted the blockade at the Fate plant in San Fernando, and then at the Pirelli plant in Merlo and at Bridgestone in Llavallol. In the latter plant, according to industry sources, there would have been accidents between workers and union delegates.

A conflict that has lasted for three months

The truth is that the SUTNA strength measurement, which began in late May, has been going on for nearly 130 days e usury is especially noticeable in payrolls: After rejecting on that occasion a proposal for a 65% wage increase from the companies, now the workers in the tire factories are receiving the same salary as in April, with no improvements. to such, salary deduction is added that factories turn to them on unworked days.

On the trade union side, ask for a salary increase that exceeds 5% annual inflation planned for this year. But the point where there is no greater intransigence on either side is the further claim of a 200% increase in hours worked over the weekend.

For companies, this claim is equivalent to modifying the conditions of the collective labor agreement and would represent the hiring of more staff. “It is one of the least productive trade unions in the sector, with an absenteeism rate between 13% and 15%, when in any other activity an absenteeism of more than 5% would already be alarming”, they graphed in one of the companies. does.

The three tire factories ship around 500,000 tires per month, But since the start of the trade union conflict, production between 1.3 and 1.4 million tires has been halted, according to estimates by Fate owner Javier Madanes Quintanilla weeks ago.

In June, the three companies offered a 65% salary increase from 1 July, and an improvement in the hours worked at the weekend. Proposal rejected by the union.

In car terminals, they follow the evolution of this conflict with undisguised concern. In many terminals, tires are the main input with the risk of shortages and they appeal to various alternatives to stock up.

YN