As a result of the trade union conflict that has kept the tire industry in suspense for five months -and that last week led to a camp on Callao avenue and the occupation of the Ministry of Labor-the Bridgestone tire company suspended all its activities in the country. The firm made its decision known through a statement and there are fears that Fate and Pirelli will adopt a similar measure.
In this framework, and as reported THE DAYthe tires of the City shows a panorama in which the shortage of tires does not let up. “There are neither national nor imported, the problem affects the entire country”, acknowledged the owner of a tire store from 22nd to 1,200th street.
There are no tires, either due to protest measures by workers in the sector or due to inconveniences in importing supplies. Manufacturers and, closer online, distributors complain that they have no way of supplying domestic demand.
The problem affects everyone equally whether they have a car, a van or a truck. In this context, many have no alternative but to repair old wheels or buy used ones. “We do lots of repairs, we have a lot of manual work because there are no new tires,” explained the merchant.
“As is public knowledge, Bridgestone continues to face prolonged union negotiations with Sutna in the framework of the 2021/2022 peer review. At Bridgestone, the well-being and safety of our employees are our most important values and, therefore, we are committed to providing a safe workplace for each collaborator”, begins the text released by the company of Japanese origin.
After that, it indicates that, as a result of the ongoing conflict, on September 23 “it has decided to temporarily close all operations in Argentina” to “protect” the members of its team and “guarantee the integrity” of its property.
“Although it has not yet been determined when we will be able to resume operations, we will do so when we can guarantee the safety of all collaborators,” says the firm and concludes: “Bridgestone will continue to work with the commitment to overcome this situation that currently puts risk the supply of tires in the market”.
The same day that Bridgestone suspended all its activities nationwide, Pirelli also issued a statement in which it gave an ultimatum to the Single Union of Tire Workers (Sutna), which it accused of carrying out a blockade at its plant.
