Betssy Chavez assured that air traffic controllers strike was declared illegal by the Ministry of Labor

The Minister of Labour and Employment Promotion, Bettsy Chavez, spoke about what happened at Jorge Chavez airport this Holy Thursday, where thousands of passengers were unable to travel due to the air traffic controllers' strike. He noted that the ministry did not authorize the measure and declared it illegal.

The Minister of Labor stated that what the MTPE did was to declare the origin of the strike communication, and that once this was done, both the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (CORPAC) and the workers had to expect the operation of air transport to continue on a regular basis.

“It is on Thursday that this assumption of legality is broken because article 82 of the law on collective relations was violated, with other legal assets affected (the right to air transport). This agreement is broken and the Labor portfolio declares the strike illegality,” he said.

“At no time does the Ministry of Labor give them the go-ahead to leave in the situation that thousands of Peruvians left on Thursday,” he said.

Chavez also said that last year Corpac had already reached an agreement with its workers after a conversation with employees and the Minister of Transport and Communications. However, the airport corporation would not have complied with the agreements drawn up.

Regarding responsibility for the act, the minister stated that the Government should be responsible for eliminating monopolies and oligopolies in society. In addition, he said that Corpac also needs to sit down and talk with workers to address their claims, which have been demanded for years.

FLIGHTS PARALYZED ON HOLY THURSDAY

This Thursday, April 14, nearly 1,500 passengers were unable to travel due to the cancellation of domestic flights caused by a strike by air operators, according to Lima Airport Partners (LAP).

Rocío Espinoza, LAP's Reputation Manager, said that during the morning, flights to destinations such as Cusco, Trujillo, Ayacucho and Tacna had been canceled.

“In the morning there are more than 15 flights canceled, I'm losing count. And up to 100 people can go on each flight. It is a major impact,” he stressed in RPP.

Hours later, a negotiation took place, with the presence of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion, and the strike was lifted. Cancelled flights were rescheduled, but you could still see long queues of users looking to travel to domestic or international destinations.

MEASURES IMPOSED BY INDECOPI

The National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) reported that it will convene different institutions and unions to a dialogue table with the workers of the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (Corpac). Discussions will be held on the labour rights claims that inspired the strike.

Representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Supervisory Agency for Investment in Public Transport Infrastructure (Ositrán) and the National Fund for the Financing of State Business Activity (Fonafe) will be convened.

The commission could be composed of Indecopi, the Ministry of Transport, Corpac, the Unified Union of Air Traffic Controllers of Peru (Sucta) and the civil aviation figures proposed by this union.

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