Chile Government To Replace Airport Employees Demanding Better Work Conditions To Prevent Flight Delays

The government of Chile is trying to ease the effects of a 48-hour stoppage by replacing employees who joined the strike set for December 17 and 18.

Reuters reported Monday about the announcement from the country's civil aviation authority regarding a two-day strike scheduled on Thursday and Friday of the same week.

"The workers agreed to go on strike for 48 hours on Thursday and Friday," DGAC workers union head Jose Perez declared.

According to Reuters, the workers are demanding an improvement in their working conditions and benefits.

"Unless there is an improvement in the government offer very soon, the stoppage will go ahead," Perez added.

This, says the outlet, was initially thought to cause airport chaos and even suspension of flights, especially during the Christmas season.

The report compared the situation to September's 24-hour strike that involved most of the workers of Director General de Aeronautica Civil or the Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics of Chile (DGAC), stalling thousands of passengers and causing long lines at the airports.

This was after Director of Civil Aviation Maximiliano Larraechea announced that no passenger plane would be taking off during the course of the strike.

Meanwhile, Economy Minister Felipe Cespedes told Merco Press that the stoppage was "illegal" and pleaded for them to participate in negotiations.

"[Workers] have all the opportunities to strike a constructive, positive dialogue, that doesn't affect the functioning of a critical service affecting thousands of tourists and Chileans who were unable fly today," he said.

The LATAM Airlines, one of the country's biggest airlines, suffered the most from this workers' strike that caused dozens of flights to be cancelled.

This December, two months following initial negotiations, the workers' union declared that they reject the proposed subsidy from the government of Chile to improve their pensions, leading to the stoppage that just happened to be scheduled during peak travelling season.

However, this time, the strike did not include traffic controllers, which significantly lessened the effect of the stoppage, according to the Associated Press as posted in Yahoo News.

"The stoppage called for Thursday and Friday is expected to cause delays of some flights just days before the Christmas holidays. But it's not expected to cause major disruptions because traffic controllers and others aren't joining in the stoppage," the outlet reported Wednesday.

Aside from that, the Chilean government is set to replace workers who would go on strike to minimize the impact of the event to travellers who are set to fly this Christmas.

So far, there is still no word as to what measures the government of Chile will take with regards to the civil aviation workers' demands.