SANTIAGO – Chile’s LATAM Airlines has said that the collective bargaining process continues with the LAN Express Crew Union, who announced a legal strike starting next Tuesday.
The company said in a statement, “LATAM has relaxed its proposal before the negotiating table, accessing the main requirement of the Union, which is the work shift system. Although the law in Chile allows for a shift of 10 days worked by four days of rest, the company agreed to offer a shift of seven days of work for four days of rest.”
The proposal was delivered in writing by the company and will be voted on at the Assembly on Monday.
Last week, the Cabin Crew Union of LAN Express, a subsidiary of the Chile-based LATAM Airlines group, said workers would strike on Tuesday after mediation with the government failed to produce a new labor contract.
The union, which includes about 1,000 airline workers, said in a statement on Saturday that the strike would affect all local flights and international connections in Chile of LATAM Airlines, the largest airline in the region.
“During the mandatory mediation, some secondary agreements were reached, however there were no proposals that could be approved in the two most relevant areas,” the union said.
The union said that two points of contention were the duration of rotations and salaries of new employees.
Faced with an eventual stoppage, the company said on Wednesday that it had canceled or rescheduled flights in Chile (with the exception of Easter Island) and some specific flights to and from South America between April 10 and 13 because of the strike threat.
For this, contact was made with the affected passengers and travel agencies, to inform them of the status of their flights and they were offered facilities to reschedule their trip or request the return of the ticket at no cost, according to the date of their flight. So far, this situation would only affect the routes within Chile and some flights in South America.
LATAM starts non-stop flights between Santiago de Chile and Melbourne
Long-haul flights will not be affected. The company has also regretted the possible inconveniences that this situation could cause and reiterated its willingness to continue working to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.
