BA News: BA Herald on Strike & SUGAR Shut by The Man

[Napoleon]

Two bits of news that cater particularly to Expats, Native English Speakers, & Argentines who spend time with them.

1) The Buenos Aires Herald newspaper is On Strike.

We're used to everyone striking in BA, but according to Herald journalist Sorrel Moseley-Williams, the parent company ("AmFin", Ambito Financial) is offering a whopping 3% Pay Raise.

NO, I did not leave out a "0" after the "3". Whether you agree with "Independent" analysts (25%-30% inflation) or with Cristina & INDEC (~9.5% inflation), you have to agree that a 3% increase in salaries is ridiculous!

In addition, they're asking for acceptable working conditions as well. And with chairs like this:

You can understand their gripe. They've also been receiving pressure from anonymous sources to get back to work in part through the posting of fliers calling this strike "ILLEGAL", which it's not.

Sorrel's BLOG with more Strike INFO: http://www.sorrelmw.com/


2) SUGAR Bar in Palermo Soho (on Costa Rica) has been shut down by The Man.

Co-owner (& Argentine citizen) Martin Frankel posted this on their Facebook page:

Sugar was closed down by the city govt. until may 24th as punishment for a 2 yr old issue that we'd previously been punished for. We're fighting this craziness legally tooth & nail as its a completely unjust & disproportionate punishment.

We hope to be open sooner but worst-case scenario we invite you down Tues, May 24th for a big [NAPOLEON EDIT] party! Thanks for all your support of the Hottest Bar in Buenos Aires!

He also made a post in Spanish.

Co-owner Keith (& non-Argentine citizen as best I know) posted this:

Sugar was closed today by the municipalidad de Buenos Aires. We received a 15 day closure for something that happened in 2009. We had a closure in may 2009, for which we received 12 days penalty and a fine for overcapacity.

We thought this was the end of the matter as we'd paid for our mistakes. But the people in charge saw fit to close the bar for another 15 days today and another substantial fine exactly 2 years after the incident. This came as a total surprise to us and we haven't been able to prevent it. We are fighting it but we are powerless against the municipalidad.

We will be back open on tuesday 24th of May which is the day before a feriado so expect a great party. Apologies to all our customers. We are trying to play by the extremely limiting rules and to keep Sugar open as a place for everyone to enjoy but yet again we are discriminated against.
thanks for your support.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_6181590842

By using "Municipalidad", I'm under the impression that he's referring to power under Macri. This bums me a bit (American meaning of "bums", not British) because I like a lot of what Macri has been doing in the city. (Bike Lanes, Muni Cops, Cultural Events)


So I thought that I would post that.

suerte

 

[sesamosinsal]

But have you seen the cost of a nice office chair here?

 

[philamote]

I can't say 3% is that surprising. If the Herald did pay its staff what they were worth, who knows, it might just read comprehensibly more than half of the time...

(Yes, I exaggerate. But still.)

 

[PhilipDT]

No you don't. Spanish is a second language that I'm still working on and I find La Nacion & Clarin to be just as easy to understand as whatever language the BA Herald is printed in.

 

[AkBill]

speaking of things being closed down wtf happened to NSalad on tucaman and whatever in the mircocentro, i used to eat there twice a week for lunch

they had something that almost tasted kind of like real bacon

Now their shop and signage is still there but they have been closed since like last januarary :O:O

I know the owner and shes argentina? what happened. I want you

 

[nikad]

Well, you cannot blame the city Govt for closing you yet again, if after 2 years you still haven´t solved whatever was wrong!!!

 

[Napoleon]

Well, you cannot blame the city Govt for closing you yet again, if after 2 years you still haven´t solved whatever was wrong!!!

You're kidding... right?

If not, then let me clarify:

They were over capacity in 2009, so they got closed down, paid a fine, followed the rule given to them about hiring/unionizing their doormen/security, and then opened back up.

Then this week, the government decided to shut them down again for the incident that occurred in 2009. NOT a new incident.

In most countries with an elected government, this isn't possible.

 

[nikad]

You're kidding... right?

If not, then let me clarify:

They were over capacity in 2009, so they got closed down, paid a fine, followed the rule given to them about hiring/unionizing their doormen/security, and then opened back up.

Then this week, the government decided to shut them down again for the incident that occurred in 2009. NOT a new incident.

In most countries with an elected government, this isn't possible.

My bad, but your original post was not clear, unless I am supposed to know the background story of each business that gets closed (?)

 

[syngirl]

Yeah, nowhere in their posts (or at least in the portions you've copied to here) does it say they actually solved the problem -- ie put limits on capacity, put in these guards that you mention etc -- it just says they paid the fines, so when I saw that I thought the same as Nikad, that if you "paid" but didn't solve, someone else is bound to come back and ask you to pay again... especially after the couple of incidences that there have been in the same barrio with illegal constructions collapsing due to overcapacity.

 

[Napoleon]

My bad, but your original post was not clear, unless I am supposed to know the background story of each business that gets closed (?)

Yeah, nowhere in their posts (or at least in the portions you've copied to here) does it say they actually solved the problem -- ie put limits on capacity, put in these guards that you mention etc -- it just says they paid the fines, so when I saw that I thought the same as Nikad, that if you "paid" but didn't solve, someone else is bound to come back and ask you to pay again... especially after the couple of incidences that there have been in the same barrio with illegal constructions collapsing due to overcapacity.

I see. Yes, I did have a lot more info on the case than people who don't frequent Sugar. However, I thought that these parts-

Sugar was closed down by the city govt. until may 24th as punishment for a 2 yr old issue that we'd previously been punished for.

and this part

Sugar was closed today by the municipalidad de Buenos Aires. We received a 15 day closure for something that happened in 2009. We had a closure in may 2009, for which we received 12 days penalty and a fine for overcapacity.

We thought this was the end of the matter as we'd paid for our mistakes. But the people in charge saw fit to close the bar for another 15 days today and another substantial fine exactly 2 years after the incident.

Made it extremely clear. At no time did they say "New incident" for the same thing that had happened in 2009.

Especially "We had a closure in may 2009, for which we received 12 days penalty and a fine for overcapacity." I felt that that couldn't have been much more clear. Overcapacity in May of 2009... no mention of overcapacity any other time than 2009. No mention of them getting "caught again".

Whatever.

The point is that they were shut down for something that they were already fined and closed for back in 2009.

That would be like getting arrested and jailed for something that you were already arrested and jailed for. You've paid your "debt to society"... but apparently that's not enough in this case.