Pilots of Colombia’s largest airline, Avianca, vowed to lift a 50-day strike before Monday after mediation by the country’s ombudsman.
The decision was announced by the Ombudsman’s Office after hours of negotiations between the striking workers and Ombudsman Carlos Negret.
Acta de acuerdo para levantamiento del cese de actividades de pilotos sindicalizados de Acdac y reanudación de operaciones aéreas https://t.co/3F1AowyHvF pic.twitter.com/Aym7yw6GUQ
— Defensoría delPueblo (@DefensoriaCol) November 10, 2017
The pilots laid down work on September 20 in an attempt to force Avianca to negotiate labor conditions, particularly in regard to work hours.
The strike forced the suspension of hundreds of flights, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The company refused to negotiate with pilot union ACDAC after an initial round of talks and has turned down mediation efforts by the ombudsman’s office.
Instead, Avianca sought to break the strike by employing foreign pilots and fire striking pilots. These initiatives, however, were declared illegal by the court.
Without having solved the labor dispute, ACDAC agreed to lift the strike of more than 700 pilots ahead of a Supreme Court ruling about the legality of the strike.
