Big win for Chilean cabin crew

Around 850 regional and domestic cabin crew, members of the ITF-affiliated Sindicato de Tripulantes de Cabina LAN Express, were set to take strike action. Union president Silka Seitz outlined some of the workers’ issues, saying: “We haven’t seen wage increases in over a decade. We want the right to eat and to take rests if we have a 12-hour working day, in line with Chile’s other workers.”

Earthquakes rocked the north of the country last week, and a temporary state of emergency was declared. Seeking to avoid strike action, which could have affected travel to the area, the union requested an extension to negotiations on Monday. Agreement was reached later on in the week.

As part of the LATAM ITF network, the union received widespread international support for the strike. The ITF-affiliated Teamsters local 769 took high profile action at the Sony Open tennis tournament in Miami, America. LAN are a key sponsor of the event, and activists highlighted the dispute through distributing flyers and even arranging a publicity airplane to publicise the dispute.

Gabriel Mocho, ITF civil aviation secretary, welcomed the victory. “Following months of negotiation, and government intervention, the workers have finally won the recognition they deserve. Cabin crew keep air passengers safe, often in very difficult working conditions. I’m pleased to see that their professionalism, expertise, and hard work has now been recognised by the employers.”