President Javier Milei will face on Wednesday a general strike called by Argentina's biggest union grouping, the first great challenge to the economic reform bid he launched upon taking office a month and a half ago.
Workers are expected to down tools in their thousands and take to the streets in protest as part of a mobilisation called by the opposition-aligned Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) umbrella union grouping, which has some seven million members.
The CGT, which rejects the campaign of deregulation and economic reform changes proposed by Milei, which would limit the right to strike and affect the financing of unions. Many of its members feel that the reforms would leave them vulnerable to exploitation, and poorer.
“No union is in a position to give in an inch of what has been achieved,” warned Facundo Moyano, general co-secretary of the CGT, who rejects the budget-slashing changes Milei wants to introduce by government decree and the so-called 'Omnibus Law.'
Other, smaller unions and civic society groups will join the CGT in its march, as will the Argentine Workers’ Confederation (CTA), the second biggest union grouping in the country. Several human rights groups, including the Madres de Plaza de Mayo and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo will also demonstrate.
"It is a way of giving support to this resolution from the people to form a protest and a call of attention for this whole situation we are living with this strange government," said Abuelas President Estela De Carlotto on Tuesday.
Citizen and trade union organisations from all over the world also called for mobilisation in support of the protesters.
In Uruguay, the PIT-CNT, the single workers' union, called to demonstrate in rejection of Milei's "anti-popular measures," which it said "threatens the life, rights and freedom of the workers and the Argentine people."
Rallies are also expected in Madrid, London, Berlin and Paris, among other cities.
Unprecedented
Never before has a mass strike been called so soon into the term of a new Argentine government: just 45 days.
The government is not taking the challenge lying down.
It has set up an anonymous, toll-free line for people to report "threats and pressure" on workers to stay away from their jobs. In Argentina, one out of every four workers is unionised.
The practice started in December, given budding protests against the Government. Messages were sent at suburban train stations all day inviting people to report pressures to join marches and rallies, which was dismissed as “Orwellian” by the opposition.
Since it was created, the hotline has received 53,300 calls and 3,000 more in the lead-up this first national strike, stated Adorni on Tuesday, though the government did not provide documentation to back up its claim.
The government has also said it will take a day of pay from each striking public servant and will hand unions the bill for Wednesday’s police deployment.
“It’s reasonable for people who don’t work, not to collect" their salary, stated Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni.
“The strike on Wednesday will show that there are two Argentinas. One wants to stay behind, in the past, in decadence,” said Milei in an interview on Monday.
Spending cuts
This will be the first national strike against the government and its draconian adjustment measures with which it seeks to contain a 211-percent annual inflation, a 30-year record.
Milei, who surveys show has a positive approval rating of between 47 and 55 percent, took office in December after a campaign vowing to slash public spending.
Ten days after he came to power, he announced a set of sweeping reforms that lessened some worker protections, abolished a price ceiling on rent and lifted price controls on certain consumer goods.
Milei's reforms are also being challenged in court, with more than 60 lawsuits under way by labor unions, business chambers and NGOs.
One chapter of the president's so-called "mega decree" on spending reforms – dealing with labour matters – has already been frozen by a court pending a review by Congress.
Among other things, it sought to increase the job probation period from three to eight months, reduce compensation in case of dismissal and cut pregnancy leave.
It also regulates labour meetings and conditions the collection of union funds.
For the rest of the decree, the government is putting pressure on lawmakers for a quick adoption, but is facing some resistance from sectors of the Juntos por el Cambio coalition.
Economic turmoil
The economy, too, has resisted Milei's attempts to boost export competitiveness by devaluing the peso by more than 50 percent last month.
"What was gained in competitiveness is lost with inflation," economist Martin Epstein said in an interview
And with interest rates far below inflation, "any investment in pesos is a loss," he added, meaning people are buying US dollars – sending the exchange rate of the peso soaring on the informal market to 1,235 to the greenback. The official rate is 868 pesos.
The markets expect another devaluation in the coming months, and analysts say more unrest is likely to follow especially with higher cost of supplies for school, resuming soon, on top of fuel, food and transport price increases.
Poverty levels in Latin America's third-biggest economy are at 40 percent and the country is battling annual inflation exceeding 200 percent after decades of financial mismanagement.
In December, consumption decreased by 13.7 percent year-to-year and the production of small industries fell by 26.9 percent, according to the CAME business chamber.
On Tuesday, around 100 people protested once again with empty pots opposite the president’s residence in Olivos, as a prelude to what would happen the following day.
Mariano Marín, an activist from Barrios de Pie, which organises soup kitchens, said that “many people who were not coming before are now showing up to have a full meal."
Tension
The strike will last 12 hours, starting at noon, and will begin with a march from the CGT's headquarters, not far from Plaza de Mayo, with columns running all the way to Congress.
Security Minister, Patricia Bullrich, who in December tested her so-called “anti-picket protocol” against roadblocks, repeated on Monday that her crowd control mechanism will again be “in force" for the CGT protest.
Among other things, this protocol prevents roadblocks and requires demonstrators to gather on pavements and squares.
Union leaders have complained that the government is looking to create tension.
“Does she want me to carry 40,000 teamsters or for them to walk in a single file?”, Moyano quipped this week, saying he held the minister “responsible for any inconvenience."
– TIMES/AFP
Comments