Ximena López was arbitrarily and illegally dismissed by the company on 14 October.
She was a member of the trade union delegation which met Dr Carlos Ernesto Marx on 11 December and also included union leaders from Peru, Chile, Argentina and Colombia, and ITF assistant regional secretary Edgar Diaz. They described the company’s anti-trade union action and the lack of a collective agreement. At the end of a long meeting, the minister declared himself to be “one more soldier in this fight” and agreed to ask the company to comply with the country’s constitution and reinstate
Edgar Diaz said: “This is a significant outcome and we thank Dr Marx for his support. We hope now that the company will respect the union’s right to organise workers at LAN Ecuador, reinstate Ximena López and negotiate a collective agreement.
“This is an urgent case and we will follow it closely. We look forward to being informed of the date for the minister’s meeting with LAN managers so the ITF and our affiliates can follow up with our own action.”
Ximena López is a highly respected trade unionist and a prominent activist on labour rights, gender equality and in the organisation of the ITF’s LATAM network. Her dismissal triggered international solidarity action, resulting in flight delays, letters and protests at embassies in all the countries where LATAM Airlines operates.
