The Río Grande branch of the Metalworkers' Union will halt Tierra del Fuego industrial plants for four hours in an attempt to prevent a reduction in the local manufacturing process for air conditioners. Its Congress of Delegates unanimously approved a strike and march for Wednesday, August 5, from 1 to 5 p.m. The action responds to a formal notification from business chambers about changes to production lines.
The dispute centers on which parts and tasks will continue to be performed on the island. UOM says companies intend to import pre-soldered and integrated assemblies, with tubes, boards and other components already prepared, instead of completing those stages in Tierra del Fuego workshops. Branch general secretary Oscar Martínez estimates that the change could eliminate up to 60% of jobs on air-conditioner lines and directly affect about 200 workers.
The substitution would cover tubing, boards and manual insertion work that currently forms part of assembly. For the union, this is not a minor reorganization but a removal of productive content from Tierra del Fuego's industrial regime, turning equipment semi-finished abroad into products requiring less local work. Martínez said the move erases a historic gain associated with the province's industrial promotion system.
The protest was presented as preventive because layoffs have not yet been formalized. The aim is to stop the downsizing before positions disappear and compel those with political responsibility in the province to intervene. The strike is not a response to dismissals already carried out, but an effort to contest the business decision while the continuity of complete production lines is still under discussion.
The potential impact extends beyond metalworkers. UOM warned that lower production would leave supervisors and technicians affiliated with ASIMRA, the association of supervisors in the metalworking industry, facing uncertainty. It would also reach contractors providing logistics, maintenance and cleaning services inside the Río Grande industrial park, meaning the loss of processes would spread across different links in the activity.
The dispute arises at an already fragile moment for Tierra del Fuego's electronics industry. Factories are using rotating suspensions and offering voluntary departures because of weak domestic demand. At the same time, UOM is conducting national wage negotiations and debating the unification of pay scales between Río Grande and Ushuaia. The air-conditioner conflict therefore adds to simultaneous tensions over employment, activity and income.
August 5 will be the first test of strength in this sequence. The union demands that companies guarantee the continuity of complete assembly lines; without that answer, it says the four-hour stoppage will begin a broader campaign across the province. The pending decision is no longer only how production will be organized, but how much industrial work will remain effectively located in Tierra del Fuego.
