Underground Stewards Committee Bulletin

Mon, 9 September 2002 

The legislature of the City of Buenos Aires passed, with a huge majority, Law 871, which decreases the working day in the Buenos Aires Underground to six hours per day. This law has been a historic demand of Underground workers, as it was our right for many years. Furthermore, as Law 871 states, “the reduction of the working day to six hours, and the working week to 36 hours, with no loss of pay, is absolutely justified, because of the unhealthy working conditions, which result in Underground workers suffering greater psychological and physical exhaustion.”
 This Law, therefore, protects workers’ health, improves safety for passengers, and creates hundreds of new jobs.

Metrovias wants to go against the will of its workers, its passengers, and the Legislators, preferring to prioritise the selfish interests of the Roggio consortium. Through their press officer, Metrovias has been saying that the Mayor, Mr Anibal Ibarra, will be granting their request for a veto of this Law.

Underground workers had an eight-hour working day until the

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT [of Peron], which passed Decree 10.677 in 1946, declaring the Underground to be an Unhealthy working environment, and reducing the working day to six hours.  

The MILITARY DICTATORSHIP 1967/1973 –  Decreee Nº 2067/67 of  28/3/1967 abolishes Decree 10.667/46, so that the Underground is no longer considered Unhealthy.

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT 1973/1979 – Resolution  Nº 241/73 of the Ministry of Labour declares underground working environments as Unhealthy

MILITARY DICTATORSHIP 1979 onwards - Salubridad: Resolutions Nº 1249/79 y 2297/80 of the Ministry of Labour, once again declare working conditions in the Underground as “healthy”

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT  in 1984 reinstitutes the six hour working day for the Underground.

MENEM’S GOVERNMENT.  In 1993,  Decree 1515/93 states that personnel in private concessionary companies will work in conditions set out in the Labour Contract Law and the Collective Bargaining arrangement entered into. Since 1/1/94, Underground workers have had to work for eight hours a day [48 hours a week].

The Stewards Committee of the Underground workers therefore announces that:

a.. The functioning of the Underground service may be at risk, if Mayor Ibarra vetoes the recently passed Law.
b.. We will not allow our conditions, fought for by workers and passengers, to be stolen from us..
c.. We declare ourselves in a state de alert and mobilization throughout the Underground, to prevent Metrovias from succeeding in going against the sovereign will of the workers and the people of the City of Buenos Aires.

Mayor Aníbal Ibarra can choose to back the needs and interests of the Underground workers, legislators and citizens of the City of Buenos Aires, or he can choose to add his name to the murky list of those who have betrayed, and continue to betray, the will of the people.

STEWARDS COMMITTEE, UNDERGROUND OF THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES

Here follows a translation of extracts from an information bulletin of the Underground Stewards Committee

14 August 2002

“Human Resources management has recently stated that working on the underground is healthier than being on holidays in the Cordoba Hills, and alludes to “numerous improvements relative to pre-existing conditions”. Unfortunately we do not agree with this. For example:

1. Though brake shoes no longer have asbestos, they now have graphite.

2. The forced ventilation system has not succeeded in lowering the unbearable temperatures on the “B” line. Only 10 % of ticket offices have air conditioning.

3. The toilets and changing rooms in many places are still deplorable, for example the showers in the Miserere workshop and the changing rooms in the Constitucion workshop.

4. As for noise levels, we suspect the unbearable screeching on the curve in Diagonal Norte and the new stations on the “D” Line are outside legal limits. This is affecting the hearing of workers and passengers, and we await a legal judgment. The company recognises that there is noise pollution, as it hands out ear protection to workers.

5. Installing cabins in which to paint has protected the other workers from it, but it is still toxic for those who are carrying out the painting.

These are feeble arguments by a company which transports 200 million passengers every year, and employs nearly 2000 people. They have nothing to say about the altered biological clock of shiftworkers, eyestrain due to poor or intermittent lighting, etc.

What is being discussed in the Council of the Federal Capital (City of Buenos Aires)?

Three Bills have been presented, which on 7 August were merged into one, which had the approval of the Labour and General Legislation Committee. This Bill includes reducing the working day to six hours, with no loss of pay, maintaining pre-existing conditions, and no reduction in service levels.

It is important to remember that Metrovias S.A. is not the owner of the underground; it has only been granted a concession to exploit the service. The underground belongs to the City of Buenos Aires, and it is the city’s government and Council who have the right, and the duty, to ensure that the underground is safe for its passengers and a better environment for its workers.

This Bill does not envisage the designation of the work as “insanitary”; this would be up to the city’s Labour Secretariat. However, if this Bill is approved and we get a shorter working day, it would greatly help our campaign to have the work declared “insanitary”.

Can women work in “insanitary” locations?

It depends on the place and the task. […] Women carry out many “insanitary” jobs, such as radiology, nursing, working in cold storage, etc.

[…]

Metrovias is worried because the 60 councillors may vote in favour of better health, and more jobs, for us. We have been making progress in our campaign […] we have received support from Student organisations, Neighbourhood Assemblies, Professionals, organisations of unemployed workers, workers in our own Trade Union [which includes bus drivers], and other trade unions; let us redouble our efforts to gain our rights

Underground Shop Stewards Committee