Argentine government agrees to pay airline workers' salaries for April

Airline Industry Information, June 4, 2001

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Protests by workers with Aerolineas Argentinas turned into celebration on 1 June after the Argentinean government agreed to provide USD16m to fund payment of their unpaid salaries from April.

The carrier's workers had been demonstrating at domestic and international airports after SEPI, the Spanish state holding company that owns a majority stake in the carrier, indicated that it would not provide money for the salaries because Aerolineas Argentinas is now nearly USD1bn in debt. The government's intervention is seen by airline industry observers as an attempt to move the carrier's seven labour unions to accept a government-brokered restructuring agreement for the airline, according to The Associated Press.

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