The Trade Union Association of Subway and Premetro Workers (AGTSyP) resolved stop the service of subway lines B and C between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., demanding “two francs a week”. In addition, they demand the reduction of “the exposure of workers to multiple unhealthy and harmful factors”.
Through a statement, the union announced the measure of force. “To the harmful conditions for health inherent in our work environment (disruption of circadian rhythms, microwaves, electromagnetism, mineral and metallic microparticles in suspension, rarefied air and lack of oxygen, among others)is added the presence of the carcinogenic asbestos throughout the network“, they pointed out from the union organization.
“Asbestos is an element prohibited by law, in its sale and commercialization, and that has fatal consequences for the human body that is exposed to this mineral,” they denounced.
“From the AGTSyP We have presented a collective protection demanding the immediate removal of the asbestos and all the contaminated elements of the subway network, including the line B, E and C trains that contain it, which has been granted and ratified by the Buenos Aires Justice”, they pointed out.
Robert Pianelligeneral secretary of the union accused Emova of lying “blatantly to maximize their profits”. “If there is no response, we will continue with strikes this week,” he warned, who also stressed that “the only responses from the company are chicanas and lies.”
in dialogue with The Uncover RadioPianelli clarified: “Today we are going to stop lines B and C for two hours in the followingnoon during non-peak hours so as not to affect users”. “We want the company to reconsider in order to end the conflict. Workers do not like to be in conflict. When they do, it’s because there’s no other alternative,” she said.
“Five years ago we were exposed to carcinogenic material, three deceased colleagues, 85 affected colleagues and in view of this, we are asking to reduce the working day to have less exposure to this carcinogenic material and because, fundamentally, it has already been shown that the service can be provided with fewer workers, we have already seen it in the pandemic,” he explained.
“What the company is doing is, instead of satisfying that demand and reducing the working day, what it is doing is reducing the staff, there are already 10% fewer workers to provide the same service. They are maximizing their profits instead of creating a better climate and a better environment for their workers and thus make up for what they did for 30 years of having us working with carcinogenic material without notifying us,” added Pianelli.
Emova’s position on the fourth union measure in less than 15 days
“Emova regrets that, despite attempts to sustain dialogue and negotiation through the appropriate channels, users who need to use the service to move are directly harmed,” explained the company in charge of the service.
In relation to the complaints from the union of subway workers, Emova makes the following clarifications: “There is no risk to the health of workerspermanent measurements of air quality are carried out in all areas of the Subway whose records show results well below the levels admitted in the regulations and also equal to or lower than those detected on public roads”.
“There is no environmental measurement of the more than 2,500 carried out that has yielded a negative result in the last five years, that is, asbestos contamination has never been detected”, they highlighted.
In relation to the reduction of the working day, they indicated that there are no arguments to give way to this demand since “there is no declaration of unhealthiness that supports the need for a reduced working day, as determined by Chamber II of the Court of Appeals of the Job”.
Specifically, regarding asbestos, they clarified that since 2018 it has “with a comprehensive deforestation plan in which it continues to work actively, within which all the fleets, substations and power centers were surveyed, as well as workshops, pumping wells and technical rooms, thus covering all the work spaces”.
RB/fl
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