Surprise Buenos Aires Subte strike ends after union leaders released

A surprise strike paralysed all six Subte underground train lines and the pre-metro line in Buenos Aires on Tuesday as workers demanded the release of three union leaders who were arrested during a protest, according to the operator and the workers’ union.

Operator Emova reported shortly after 10am local time that services across the network had been suspended because of “union industrial action." The service only resumed five hours later after the union representatives were released.

The Asociación Gremial de Trabajadores del Subterráneo y Premetro (Underground and pre-metro Workers’ Union) said in a statement that the strike had been triggered by the arrests and denounced what it described as the criminalisation of protest.

The union said the dispute began after a disciplinary sanction was imposed on a worker, which it considered abusive. In response, employees opened the ticket barriers at the terminus of Línea B to allow passengers to travel for free.

Police attempted to prevent the action, leading to a confrontation in which three workers were arrested for obstructing security forces, the city’s Security Secretary, Maximiliano Piñeiro, told the La Red radio station.

Prosecutors also issued an arrest warrant for the worker who had opened an emergency exit to allow passengers to enter without paying.

“Anyone who blocks an essential service goes to jail. No ifs, no buts,” Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri wrote on X. “We will not accept mafia-style extortion.”

In June, Macri’s administration ruled that the Subte and pre-metro lines, which carry around 800,000 passengers a day in the capital, must maintain at least 50 percent of their normal operations during strikes, having classified them as a “transcendental service."

“We want guarantees that they will stop persecuting workers,” union leader Claudio Dellecarbonara told reporters after his release.

Dellecarbonara argued that opening the ticket barriers was a legitimate form of protest and criticised Macri over the police response.

“They want to establish a fascist dictatorship in which people are not allowed to make demands,” he said.