- Title: ARGENTINA: Unions slow activity in Argentina with general strike
- Date: 10th April 2014
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (APRIL 10, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AEROPLANES GROUNDED AT AIRPORT VARIOUS OF EMPTY CHECK-IN COUNTERS AT AIRPORT FLIGHT SCREEN SHOWING CANCELLED FLIGHTS VARIOUS OF AIRLINE PASSENGERS ARGUING WITH AIRLINE EMPLOYEES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) AIRLINE PASSENGER IDENTIFIED ONLY AS FERNANDO, SAYING: "I'd been calling since ten o'clock last night and they t
- Embargoed: 25th April 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Economy,Employment,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA57Q6QWCK9BKTZ9VY709PT6MAX
- Story Text: Labour groups in Argentina went on a 24-hour general strike on Thursday (April 10) to protest high inflation and other conditions affecting workers bringing urban centres including capital Buenos Aires to a near standstill.
The work stoppage was called by the powerful CGT labour organization, which represents key sectors such as truck drivers and port workers.
Bus drivers and other transportation workers have also joined the 24-hour protest, slowing activity in major cities including Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Cordoba.
Chief avenues including Buenos Aires' Avenida 9 de Julio, which is usually packed with roaring buses, had virtually no bus traffic on them.
The city's busy subway system was also shut as workers stayed away from the job.
"All six lines and the outer connectors aren't running. Of the 4,000 Metrovias workers - subway workers - less than six percent showed up to their workplaces, so it was full compliance," one subway worker, German Quiri, told Reuters TV.
Workers were demanding salary increases to reflect inflation which is estimated at more than 30 percent and also demonstrated against increased crime.
The government of President Cristina Fernandez criticized the tactics used by the labour groups and cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich compared the strike to a medieval approach.
"We think the strategy this opposition grouping has used in Argentina is to try and lay siege on urban centres. And this is a method used back in medieval times. In the Middle Ages the feudal lords effectively established mechanisms that involved impeding people's access through mechanisms of preventative measures," Capitanich said.
Some demonstrators scuffled with security forces in Buenos Aires with some reports of injuries.
But the demonstration went beyond the large urban centres with truckers blocking major highways around the country.
Hundreds of flights were also cancelled with the largely domestic Aeroparque Jorge Newberry Airport all but shuttered.
More flights were leaving out of the larger Ezeiza International Airport though several flights were also cancelled leaving there as well.
"I'd been calling since ten o'clock last night and they told me my flight would get out of Aeroparque because Aeroparque was going to run like normal. And I told them several times that Aeroparque wasn't going to run like normal. Why didn't they just tell me to go to Ezeiza so I could have gone straight there? (They said) No, it will run like normal. And well, here I am. Aeroparque is not going to open. I have to go to Ezeiza with all the headache that comes with that," a passenger identified only as Fernando said.
The strike started at 12:00 a.m. (0400GMT) runs for 24 hours until midnight local time. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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