MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Strike grounds all Aerolineas Argentinas flights

A strike launched Tuesday by Aerolineas Argentinas pilots, technicians and machinists to press for pay increases has paralyzed all of the carrier's operations.

Passengers, many of them foreign tourists, lodged angry complaints at airports across Argentina on arriving and learning that flights they were expecting to board had been cancelled or rescheduled.

Airline Pilots Association spokesman Daniel Viro said the union "decided to resume strong measures" that had been suspended July 9 when the Labour Ministry started the mediation process.

"The strike, initially, will be for 12 hours" Mr. Viro said.

The work stoppage targets both domestic and international flights.

Pilots, who staged a two-day strike earlier this month that stranded thousands of vacation travellers, are demanding a 40% pay increase.

Mr. Viro warned that if no agreement is reached, pilots could declare an indefinite stoppage, however he trusted talks will resume with Labour Ministry mediation.

Members of the Association of Aviation Technical Personnel also went on strike Tuesday to demand pay increases.

Aerolineas Argentinas is controlled by Spanish travel and tourism company Marsans