Subway workers in Buenos Aires on Monday temporarily ended a strike that had paralyzed the capital and left 1 million commuters stranded per day for the past 10 days. The strike was called off last night after the Subway and Premetro Workers’ Union Association (Asociación Gremial de Trabajadores del Subte y el Premetro—AGTSyP) and Metrovías, the private company that operates the Uquiza Line commuter rail in Buenos Aires, reached an agreement over workers’ salary increases.
The strike, which was the longest in the subway’s 100-year history, began on August 3, when 2,500 subway workers, represented by the AGTSyP, demanded a 28-percent salary increase. Both parties agreed to a 23-percent increase, but union leaders maintain that it’s a temporary solution. “The conflict continues, but we’ve decided to make a gesture towards commuters and workers,” said Roberto Pianelli, secretary general of the AGTSyP in a press conference on Monday.
Some among the Argentine media are framing the strike as a stand-off between the administration of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, an opposition politician who is expected to run for president in 2015.
