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ARGENTINA | 19-11-2019 16:02

Subte drivers announce strike for Wednesday

After the revelation that asbestos is in carriages on underground metro's B-line, workers unveil plans to stop service at varying times throughout the day on Wednesday.

Workers on the Buenos Aires Subte underground metro lines will strike on Wednesday, union officials have announced.

The walk-out forms part of ongoing efforts of the Association for Subway and Metro Workers to protest the presence of asbestos on the B-line. 

The strikes, announced Tuesday, will take place ay varying and rotating time slots throughout the day. Workers announced the plans as part of a larger demand for "immediate solution to the public health crisis brought about by asbestos." 

Trains on lines A, B an D will stop entirely from 5.30am to 8.30am in the morning, while trains on the C, E and H lines will stop from 8.30pm to 11.30pm at night. 

"We left the meeting with great satisfaction, having asked for all the lines to coordinate their actions to share the awareness that asbestos is a risk for all the workers and riders," union leaders said in a statement. 

This decision comes amid rumours workers were planning to institute a 24-hour stoppage that would have applied only to the B-line. 

"We're continuing to use all the tools available in the assembly to compel those responsible for contaminating and risking our health and that of thousands of daily users give concrete answers to our claims," union members said in a statement. 

They added that "asbestos is a prohibited material and that without a doubt it continues to present itself in different trains as well as in tunnels, stations and other infrastructure." 

"As workers, we have been exposed for years as we've done our work to toxic elements which has resulted in, at least, 13 workers with pulmonary illness," it added. 

– TIMES/NA

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