The Argentine president, Javier Milei, faces the first general strike this Wednesday in just 45 days of government, against his draconian fiscal adjustment and his reform plan of more than a thousand laws and regulations that governed for decades.
(Read also: The murder of a 9-year-old girl revives the debate on security in Argentina).
The largest Argentine union called the strike in rejection, in particular, of the changes by decree of the labor regime promoted by Milei, that limit the right to strike and affect the financing of unions.
The world-famous organizations of Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, as well as unions and human rights organizations from across the country, also announced their support for the strike.
Argentina goes on strike: The main unions will lead a national strike one month after Milei's arrival https://t.co/PAR47vStFv
— Alvaro Delgado Gómez (@alvaro_delgado) January 24, 2024
“It is a way to support this resolution of the people to form a protest and a call for attention for this whole situation that we are experiencing with this very strange government,” Abuelas president Estela De Carlotto said on Tuesday.
Citizen and union organizations from around the world They also called to mobilize in favor of the Argentine protesters.
In Uruguay, the PIT-CNT, the sole union center for workers, called to demonstrate in rejection of Milei's “anti-popular measures”“that threaten the life, rights and freedom of workers and the Argentine people.”
Support events are also expected in Madrid, London, Berlin and Paris, among other cities.
1/2 The PIT-CNT messes with other countries, ignoring what the people of that country voted for a few weeks ago.
That can have 2 readings:
1) They know that if they call to demonstrate against the government they will fail.The second reading is worrying: https://t.co/iTK7IuzdB9
— Hébert Dell'Onte Larrosa (@HDellOnte) January 23, 2024
The general strike is called by the largest trade union center in Argentina, the Peronist-oriented General Confederation of Labor (CGT), and received the support of the Confederation of Argentine Workers (CTA), the second largest.
Thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands, of protesters are expected to gather in the heart of Buenos Aires for concentration. Only the gigantic CGT claims to have 7 million members.
First challenge
It will be the first nationwide demonstration against the government and its drastic adjustment measures with which it seeks to contain an annual inflation of 211%, a record in 30 years.
(Keep reading: The murder of a 9-year-old girl revives the debate on security in Argentina).
In December, in year-on-year terms, consumption contracted 13.7% and production in small industries fell 26.9%, according to the CAME business chamber.
In addition, the 50% devaluation and the liberation of fuel prices, among other Milei decisions, They sharply cut the purchasing power of employees and retirees, and the discontent moved directly to the streets.
However, several polls show that the president maintains between 47% and 55% positive image. The strike will last 12 hours starting at noon, and will start with a march from the CGT headquarters, a few blocks from Plaza de Mayo, to Congress.
“What Wednesday's strike is going to show you is that there are two Argentinas. There is one Argentina that wants to stay behind, in the past, in decadence,” Milei said this week.
Essential services
The mega Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) of 366 articles dictated by Milei barely took office, introduces several substantive changes to the old and consolidated Argentine labor legislation, in particular on the exercise of the right to strike.
Milei demands minimum coverage of 75% in essential services such as education, transportation and food, among others, and promotes dismissals for cause of strikers.
The DNU also regulates labor assemblies, conditions union fundraising, and reduces severance pay.
The CGT questioned the constitutionality of the labor chapter of the megadecree before justice, which provisionally suspended its effects. The decision was appealed by the government and the case has already been referred to the Supreme Court, currently in recess.
(we recommend: The articles that came out of Milei's 'omnibus law' in Argentina and what is coming now).
For Milei, “this is the first time that (with a DNU) freedoms are returned to citizens, that a system is put together to make the markets more competitive and also eliminate tongs [amaños]. And that's why they're so angry.”
AFP
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