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Aerolíneas Argentinas expelled union leader Pablo Biró from its board of directors - Infobae
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Aerolíneas Argentinas expulsó al sindicalista Pablo Biró de su directorio
La asamblea de la empresa decidió hoy la remoción del secretario general de APLA tras un largo conflicto en el que se repitieron los paros que afectaron a miles de pasajeros
www.infobae.com
October 16, 2024
The company's assembly decided today to remove the general secretary of APLA after a long conflict in which strikes affecting thousands of passengers were repeated
Pablo Biró, general secretary of APLA (Adrián Escándar)
Aerolíneas Argentinas announced the expulsion of Pablo Biró from its board of directors, following a vote held at the shareholders' meeting at the request of the national State, its main controlling company. The decision was taken due to the "recurring disloyal conduct" of Biró, who also holds the position of leader of the pilots' union (APLA). According to the statement, Biró acted against the interests of the company on several occasions, promoting covert strikes and questioning the operational safety of the company.
The company argued that so far in 2024, Biró has promoted 13 strikes, disguised as “informative assemblies,” which caused significant flight delays and cancellations, affecting more than 100,000 passengers and generating multimillion-dollar losses. The protests were strategically organized to affect as many flights as possible, which aggravated the impact, the airline maintains.
“Pablo Biró, in his dual role as leader of the APLA (pilots) union and as director of the company for the class B shares of the Participated Ownership Program, has had behavior in recent months contrary to that expected of a member of the board of directors of Aerolíneas Argentinas,” the official statement said.
The expulsion of the union member from the company's board of directors comes after a series of aeronautical strikes
The company's capital belongs to the National State for over 99%, while the remaining portion is part of the Participated Ownership Program (PPP) that includes the firm's employees. The directors are representatives of the shareholders, that is, almost entirely the Argentine State. When the board of directors calls the assembly, it is calling the owners of the company, or their legal representatives.
Until now, the board was made up of Fabián Lombardo , president of the company; Juan Bautista Ordoñez , vice president and representative of the State; Lisandro Catalán , deputy chief of staff of the Interior, also a representative of the State; Pablo Biró, titular director for the PPP; and Eduardo García , alternate director for the PPP. Biró was present at today's meeting, in which he was dismissed, said people present at the meeting.
Regarding the news, Manuel Adorni , presidential spokesman, expressed on his X account (formerly Twitter): “In 9 months Argentina suffered 13 aeronautical strikes, 100,000 passengers were stranded and there were more than 20 million dollars in losses: Pablo Biró has just been fired from the board of directors of Aerolíneas Argentinas.”
Aerolíneas Argentinas stressed that, despite these conflicts, it achieved a positive operating result of one million dollars in September 2024, the best record for that month in the last 23 years. This progress shows the improvement in its operational strategy, highlighting the reduction of the operating deficit by 75% compared to the previous year, the official statement said. The company concluded that, without the actions led by Biró, the results could have been even more favorable.
The Secretary of Transport, Franco Mogetta , said in this context: “Biró and the union monopolized the representation on the board, but the union cannot necessarily take the position; any worker can replace that position on the board” and added: “The company does not have any risk of ceasing operations due to Biró's expulsion. Aerolíneas Argentinas operates normally.”
He also said that "legal actions will be taken to financially repair the damage caused by the strikes, with losses of 20 million dollars in sales and 4 million dollars in operating expenses. These legal actions were approved today at the assembly."
Fabian Lombardo, President of Aerolineas Argentinas
Biró is a leader aligned with ultra-Kirchnerism, questioned by various sectors and with a controversial profile . At the beginning of the libertarian administration, when the privatization of the company began to be discussed, he had assured that " if they want to put an end to Aerolíneas, they will have to kill us ."
Complaints
The decision was made amid the scandal caused by the strikes by the company's various unions - affecting almost 40,000 passengers - measures that will continue in the coming weeks, it was announced.Last week, Mogetta had put forward the idea of excluding Biró from the board of directors of the flagship airline .
“ The union and him will be sued for the damages and losses they have caused the company ,” the official said in radio statements. “They say they are defending the company, but they hide it quite well with this type of measures that make the company lose millions of dollars ,” he added.
