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Renationalisation for major Argentine carriers
24 July 2008
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| President Cristina Kirchner receives applause at renationalisation ceremony | |
The Argentine government has announced that it will renationalise the country’s largest international and domestic carrier as well as a subsidiary company, in a bid to rescue them from bankruptcy.
The agreement to renationalise the two airlines, Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral, both owned by the Spanish group, Marsans, was announced at a ceremony in the Argentine government building in Buenos Aires on Monday. The airlines are on the verge of bankruptcy. The agreement will see 94.41 per cent of shares in Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral transferred to the government, which already owns a five per cent stake.
President Cristina Kirchner addressed more than 300 workers, including trade unionists representing ITF-affiliates Asociación de Personal Aeronáutico (APA), Asociación Argentina de Aeronavegantes and Union del Personal Superior y Profesional de Empresas Aerocomerciales. She called for cooperation from the workers to ensure the success of the new operation. She added that the dire finances of the companies had left the government with no other option but to nationalise the airlines.
The unions have wholeheartedly backed the move. Edgardo Llano, General Secretary of APA, who attended the ceremony said: “This nationalisation must be permanent and we’re here in support of this aim.”
Antonio Fritz ITF Inter-American Regional Secretary, added: "Renationalising the assets to ensure that the Argentinean people continue to have an operational service and to retain the jobs and working conditions of thousands of workers shows that the government is committed to labour rights and the integration of the country.
“This recalls a time when the Brazilian government acted in the opposite direction, leaving another national airline, VARIG, then the largest airline, open to the vagaries of the market. A bankruptcy law not intended for civil aviation companies was also applied. This caused 'civil aviation chaos' and left thousands of workers jobless and thousands of pensioned workers and their families with only the minimum protection provided by law.”
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