Bus strike: surprise force measure by DOTA group drivers for non-payment of wages

Unexpected measure of force leaves thousands of passengers without means of transport in the Metropolitan area of ​​Buenos Aires. More than 50 bus lines are affected by a union demand of workers in the DOTA Group, which covers much of the entire bus service in the city of Buenos Aires and its suburbs. Drivers demand payment of a wage debt.

The collective strike governs from 0 am this Monday, February 27 and “until the situation is regularized”announced this morning the bus drivers.

Last night, at the last minute, unions in the sector decided to refrain from tasks until the companies pay what is due to the drivers. Indeed, the bus drivers present themselves at the head office but as long as they have not collected what the DOTA GROUP owes them, they will not provide the service. For now, the force measurement affects more than 50 bus lines that operate in the AMBA but could be extended to more than 80 if the wage debt continues to be unpaid.

The lines that are unemployed so far are: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 28, 31, 44, 50, 51, 56, 57, 74, 76, 79, 84, 91, 99, 101, 107, Almirante Brown, 520 Lanús, 520 Lanús.

Amid the usual discussions that are generated year after year about the difference in price of the bus ticket that governs between AMBA and the rest of the country, the national government announced last week that it would grant a total of 28,000 million dollars pesos to urban and suburban public transport companies in the interior of the country as subsidies.

Through a resolution published in the Official Gazette, the Executive Power formalized the payment of up to 7,000 million pesos per month, a figure it will grant for the months of January, February, March and April of this year. For this reason, he also ordered the National Directorate for the Management of Trust Funds of the Ministry of transportation make the corresponding settlements for the first and second months of 2023, as they have expired or are close to expiry. In addition, he called for progress to be made in the settlements of the remaining months.

The resolution came just a week after the Union of automobile trams (UTA) call for a total cessation of activities in order to sit down and negotiate the parities of 2023. After the threats, he managed to agree on a half-yearly increase of less than 30% for the drivers.

However, one of the conditions required by the government for granting subsidies is to implement the system MOUNTED or be about to do so in the units of each jurisdiction.

“The amount of each fee will be determined taking into account the personnel corresponding to each operator on the one hand and the kilometers declared for each company/jurisdiction on the other hand”, indicates the document. In this way, the computable agents declared by the company will also be taken into account, in addition to other variables that derive from these two central points.

For this, the Undersecretary for Economic and Financial Transport Policy will request all the information necessary for the processing of the data from the beneficiary companies and/or jurisdictions.

Agents benefiting from this subsidy must subscribe to the « Convention year 2023″, just as they must have adopted or be on the point of setting up the SUBE service, as a means of collecting the charge for access to all public transport services.

The provinces or, where appropriate, the municipalities must adhere to the agreement to benefit from the compensation.

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