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Latin American trade unions have come up with a groundbreaking regional rescue plan for aviation. ITF Aviation Secretary Shane Enright explains what the unions are putting forward.

Aviation unions in the Southern Cone countries of Latin America are making rapid progress in drawing up an urgent economic rescue plan for their industry. The workers' plan is based on an integrated open internal market involving Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, but with strict controls and reciprocity on flying rights with other regions.

Summing up a mood of great excitement and confidence generated by the plan, Hugo Perosa of the ground staff union APA in Argentina says, "It's extraordinary, totally unprecedented. The result of this work is that we can show that aviation workers and their trade unions are truly capable of developing detailed and viable proposals for regional integration of aviation in the Southern Cone.

"This is the result of active education amongst our members - to be empowered to debate with government and employers, not only on labour relations and immediate operational issues but in the field of ideas, of economic policy and foreign relations."

After years of struggle at the national level to save airlines such as Aerolineas Argentinas and to prevent privatisation, asset-stripping and unfair competition, unions have concluded that an integrated aviation market for the sub-region is the only way to bring stability and economic vigour to both the public infrastructure and commercial providers. In part the sub-region's woes reflect the global crisis in aviation, but the area faces additional problems of under-investment, poor management, fragmentation, and ill-conceived government deregulation of markets.

A strong tradition of dialogue and coordinated action combines here with a front-line understanding of aviation economics and representative politics. This mix of strengths has propelled several union leaders into national parliaments - and means that aviation unions in the Southern Cone are not shy of taking on the challenge. "It is absolutely essential that we build a harmonised sub-regional market," says Marlene Ruiza of the FNAAA in Brazil. "Our vision is of a bloc in which the aspirations of all nations - including their workers - are addressed."

Putting together the framework of the economic plan was the task of an ITF Mercosur Aviation Workshop that brought 35 aviation leaders from the Southern Cone countries to Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the end of March 2003. The meeting, which was sponsored by the FES Foundation, was the second in a series of three timetabled events. They began with a vision-setting meeting in Buenos Aires in July 2002, and will end with an implementation forum in Chile during 2004. During five days of intense work in small groups and in a collective forum, union members gave shape to two key pillars of the new plan.

One of these pillars was the production of a panorama of the historic and current condition of all aviation services - including the public infrastructure and commercial operations - in the six countries involved. The aim of this element of the work was to focus on a multinational diagnosis of the problems in the region, recognising distinct national features as well as common trends.

The meeting elected an editorial committee to shape contributions into a final report. "Our industry needs this plan," says Carlos Valenzuela of FENATRALACH, Chile. "These days our airlines are in a very weak shape, some have gone bankrupt, while others have been forced to merge to survive. Government policy for the sector has been a mess."

The second pillar of the project - to produce an alternative economic policy for aviation based on sub-regional integration and smart regulation of external market access - generated intense debate and discussion. The group worked from a 15-chapter draft that addressed diverse topics, including the public service function, ownership and control, safety and security, social dialogue as well as sustainability, cost restructuring and competition measures. Hours of debate resulted in a consensus around a coherent and highly detailed text, which will be finalised by an editorial group on an urgent basis.

Public service vision

At the heart of the unions' vision is the notion of the public service functions of aviation as part of the essential national economic infrastructure and as a mechanism to bring people and cultures together.

Silvia Sackmann from AAA in Argentina - a veteran of the hard-won struggle to save Aerolineas Argentinas - put it this way: "Civil aviation is a key element for our economic development. We cannot leave it in the hands of private enterprise whose motive is profit. Governments need to engage actively in developing policies for their aviation infrastructure."

She added: "It's important, too, to regulate activity in the sector so that workers' interests and employment levels are protected."

Juan Ibarrola, from the USTT federation in Paraguay agreed, but emphasised that the plan aimed to bring benefit to all stakeholders: "We set out a vision for improved services to users of air transport and are promoting the notion of 'flight safety' as applying from pre-departure to time of arrival in an unbroken chain. The measures in this plan to challenge unfair competition would also bring lower fares for users."

One important element of the aviation workers' vision is the need for improved integration of aviation policy with other transport modes. The dependence of transportation on externally controlled fossil-fuel costs needs to be reviewed, and this process should involve all transport sectors, the meeting concluded.

Social framework for integrated markets

At the same time, it was recognised that internal liberalisation within the sub-region would bring its own problems, as the European Union experience had shown, and in particular the process of concentration or mergers would need to be managed. Integrated markets require a minimum framework of social conditions if "dumping" is to be avoided, participants agreed.

With the foundations of the plan in place, the meeting started a first assessment of the third pillar - the implementation strategy. The Mercosur common market structure was one route through which the plan could be advanced. Mercosur, together with the European Union, are the only regional common markets to have social dialogue structures, and unions will seek to overturn the current exclusion of aviation from Mercosur's transport remit.

Unions also agreed to review the liberalisation experience of the Comunidad Andina de Naciones (CAN - Andean Pact) and other regional models to incorporate these into the two pillars of work. Taking place just ahead of the global economic regulatory conference convened by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, unions also began work on adapting ICAO's draft template air services agreement to their specific needs.
 
 "This economic plan is of the highest importance in our efforts to advance and apply the long-term objectives of workers in the sector through sharing a common international vision in relation to employers, governments and users," said Hugo Perosa of the APA.

Pedro Azambuja the ITF's Chair for Civil Aviation in Latin America and the Caribbean, and President of the FNAAA of Brazil, agreed: "We've achieved a great deal here by integrating and detailing earlier work. As far as I am aware, this is the first proactive regional proposal by aviation workers anywhere. We hope that our experience can be useful to sisters and brothers in other parts of the world."