The assertiveness of Latin American labour unions is illustrated by recent events in Mexico and Argentina.
The Mexican association of airline pilots retained strategy consultancy Roland Berger to evaluate the pros and cons of Cintra's planned privatisation. In a report the union has presented to government officials, Berger warns that Cintra's airlines face increased competition and an uncertain future. Based on this, the pilots are urging the Mexican government to delay Cintra's sale and conduct a more comprehensive review of the airline sector.
In Argentina, unions are reacting to uncertainties caused by their country's aviation crisis. Unions representing some employees at Lafsa, the government's paper airline that is due to be replaced by LAN Argentina, are opposing LAN's entry into the local market on nationalistic grounds.
Some of their concerns raise traditional labour issues, such as the specifics of LAN's agreement to hire them. But other complaints range from the government's "irregular" process in negotiating with LAN and LAN's alleged practices in other countries, to policies of the oneworld alliance in which LAN is a member. They have resorted to protests at local airports, a technique Bolivian unions used recently to denounce high fuel prices.
Source: Airline Business
