Brazil's President Calls Air Traffic Controller Strike 'Irresponsible'

April 3, 2007
Controllers struck to protest a decision by the Air Force command, which oversees them, to transfer top workers to other cities.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva renewed criticism of air traffic controllers for a strike that halted flights nationwide on Friday for nearly five hours.

"I think it's irresponsible that people who have functions that are considered essential and delicate" stop working, said Silva - himself a former labor leader - in his weekly radio address.

Silva met with Air Force and Defense Ministry officials to seek a solution to the air travel chaos that has plagued Latin America's largest nation for months. He was trying to meet the controllers' demand to remove them from the military's jurisdiction, local media said.

Controllers struck to protest a decision by the Air Force command, which oversees them, to transfer top workers to other cities. The strikers saw the transfers as a retaliation for the slowdowns they have staged periodically over the past six months.

The public prosecutor's office later asked the Air Force to investigate whether its military hierarchy was broken and if middle- and low-level controllers were insubordinate, the government news service Agencia Brasil said.

Ulisses Fontenele, spokesman for the Flight Controllers Association of Brasilia, acknowledged there was "a rupture in the (military) hierarchy," Agencia Brasil said.

The strike, which forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights, ended Saturday morning after the government agreed to the controllers' demands for a bonus, review of the promotions system and change in the military status of some controllers to civilian. The government also agreed to cancel all transfers made in the past six months.

Brazil's airport authority said Monday that most flights were on time.

Brazil's travel headaches began last year when the country's one-time flagship airline Varig nearly disintegrated under crushing debt, causing mass cancellations in Brazil and abroad.

In March, hundreds of flights from major airports were delayed after a failure in air traffic control in Brazil's heavily populated southern and central areas.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.