While awaiting a new hearing, workers in the sector anticipated a cessation of activities at the national level. What are they demanding?
For Alejandro DiBiasi
01/16/2023 – 8:00 p.m.
After the failure of the meeting held this Monday at the Ministry of Labor, the national board of directors of the Union of Television, Telecommunications, Audiovisual, Interactive and Data Services (SATSAID) ratified the measure of force for this Wednesday, that will affect the tasks in open channels and production companies. The protest will consist of a cessation of activities for two hours per shift and it is not ruled out that they will deepen if a salary agreement is not reached. From the labor portfolio they informed iProfessional that there will be a new hearing this Friday at 2:30 p.m.
According to trade union spokesmen, the meeting with the representatives of the Argentine Broadcasters Association (ATA) and the Argentine Chamber of Independent Television Producers (CAPIT) was “more of the same; without any kind of increase of consideration that significantly improves the purchasing power affected by inflation”.
From the SATSAID led by Horacio Arreceygor, they announced the start of force measures after ordering the state of alert and mobilization. The union reported: “We will start with the strikes of 2 hours per shift from Wednesdaywith a presence in workplaces and in all companies in the country”. In the rest of the country, the implementation and modality of the fight plan will be the responsibility of each union representation in the different jurisdictions.
Deep discomfort of the union for an insufficient salary proposal
The leadership expressed its “deep discomfort” at the position taken by the employers’ chambers, where the offer “is totally insufficient, because it does not even contain the inflation of the coming months” and added that “In this way they are condemning the staff to a strong weakening of the purchasing power of the salary.”
He stressed that “the degree of intransigence alters the negotiation that the parties have traditionally agreed upon over the years” and pointed out that “the delay and procrastination in the salary discussion causes us serious damage to our income, which is progressively depreciating due to the inflationary effects.
The collective agreements under discussion are the 131/75 and 643/11 of workers and workers of open channels and production companies. SATSAID reported that, beyond the protests, they will continue holding assemblies which, in practice, is also a forceful measure that could be classified as “removing collaboration.”
SATSAID had just mobilized in December of last year, for the same cause.
Agreement on cable service, ITC and internet companies
On the other hand, the partners of the Argentine Television Union reached an agreement with the Argentine ICT, Video & Connectivity Association (ATVC) and the Chamber of Producers and Programmers of Audiovisual Signals (CAPPSA). The improvement of the collective labor agreement 223/75, established for the period December 2022-March 2023, a salary increase of 34 percent on all salaries in force as of June 2022. To this It must be added to the 33 percent of the first tranche, accumulating 67 percent for 9 months, plus a fixed sum of 50,000 pesos that some companies have already settled.
The established percentage will be paid in four installments: 13 percent in December, 7 in January, 7 in February, and 7 percent in March. These amounts will be calculated on all remunerative and non-remunerative concepts in force as of June 2022. In addition, the union and the companies will meet again on February 15 to review the economic impact of the agreement.
In this way, the union suspended the measures of force that it had announced at the time, lifting a cessation of activities for 24 hours with concentrations at the doors and even the Ministry of Labor itself.
