VERSIÓN ESPAÑOL ¿Transporte o hampa? El transporte no es el único sector sujeto a disputas laborales, pero es por cierto el más conspicuo al afectar directamente a miles de personas. El lunes fue una pesadilla para todos los que viajaron a través del Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, en el que más de 13.000 pasajeros quedaron varados por una huelga de los aeronavegantes, mientras que todos los micros del interior del país quedarán detenidos por un paro hoy. Pero para la mayoría del público, la más irritante de las interrupciones en el transporte de esta semana fue el caos de las demoras del subte: inhabi- litando trenes “inseguros” en nombre de la protección de los pasajeros, los delegados sindicales los están haciendo sufrir masiva y cruelmente al sincronizar sus protestas con las horas pico. Lea más

Transport may not be the only sector subject to labour strife in these electoral times but it is the most conspicuous, directly affecting thousands of people. Monday was a nightmare for everybody travelling via Jorge Newbery airport with some 13,000 passengers left stranded by a cabin staff strike while all buses in the hinterland are set to be halted by a stoppage today. But in most eyes the most irksome of this week’s transport disruptions has been the chaos of the subway delays — in the name of protecting passengers by hindering “unsafe” trains, trade union shop stewards are inflicting massive suffering on commuters by cruelly timing their protests for rush hour. With the job of one of the most militant shop stewards in the balance, the disruption threatens to escalate — the tension has already erupted into violence with a couple of injuries while passengers have also been forced to stumble along dark tunnels.
This protest on behalf of passenger “safety” might look like the worst hypocrisy to disguise an opportunistic drive for wage improvements in the final weeks of an election campaign but there are also various complex political factors involved. Trade unionists cannot push overtly for better pay because they are bound by a collective bargaining agreement only a few months ago awarding them extravagantly generous wage increases — this does not stop them from yielding to the temptation to tap an electioneering government which is handing out subsidies left, right and centre. But this is not the only aspect where the elections are a factor — various sectors are pursuing a political agenda. Ruling party presidential candidate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s promises of change might very well begin with the CGT trade union grouping’s helm where the current chief, the truculent teamster Hugo Moyano, is very much more her husband President Néstor Kirchner’s cup of tea than her own. This question-mark over Moyano’s future in turn leads to jostling by various trade union sectors ranging from the traditional Peronist labour bosses to the militant subway shop stewards — trade unionists of all stripes are also disgruntled over their scant presence on the party lists for Congress seats, not least those of the ruling Victory Front.
Be all that as it may, it does not justify over a million subway passengers being held hostage to wage and political disputes which have nothing to do with them.