Airport workers will carry out an 11-hour strike in 27 airports in Argentina on Thursday, September 19. The protest will take place in two slots, between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m., and 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Although the government says that normal operations will not be affected, there could be flight delays.

Unlike last week’s strike, pilots and crew members are not involved in this protest. Workers from the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC, by its Spanish initials) grouped in the State Workers Union (ATE) announced this strike last week amid a series of airport workers protests.

Airport workers part of the ANAC include land staff, firefighters, assistance vehicles drivers and signal operators. ANAC is the state organization that regulates all civil aviation activities throughout the country in order to optimize operation security on the ground and during flights.

According to ATE, the protest will not affect sanitary and humanitarian flights, as well as state flights.

A source from Aerolíneas Argentinas told the Herald that, contrary to what is being reported, air controllers won’t be joining the strike, only land services. According to what ANAC told them, the protest will not directly affect departures and landings.

The Transportation Secretariat said in a communiqué that the strike “is not related to the work of air controllers, nor will it have any impact on operational security at airports.”

“As of now, airport services will not be interrupted, given that air transportation is an essential [service],” they said.

Additionally, Aerolíneas Argentinas pilots and flight attendants will have assemblies on Thursday to decide whether to strike again, after their 24-hour-long work stoppage last week.

Air transportation was declared an essential service on Monday. This means that whenever aviation workers go on strike, they have to guarantee that at least 50% of flights operate. The longer the strike lasts, the higher the proportion of flights they are expected to run. Staff will also have to guarantee an air connection for locations that are only served by one route.

Critics have contested that this poses a violation of the right to protest.

The new rules come after a flurry of union assemblies and strikes in airports across the country have led to the cancellation and rescheduling of hundreds of flights, disrupting thousands of passengers’ journeys.

Pilots, baggage handlers and other staff have been striking in a dispute over pay amidst a vehement political debate about whether to privatize national carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas.

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