Friday, May 10, 2024

Argentina: New General Strike announced for May 9th


MAY 7, 2024

The Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Argentina’s largest trade union federation, has announced a second general strike for May 9th. Building on previous demonstrations, this nationwide strike aims to address the pressing economic and social challenges facing workers across the country. This time, the strike is seeking to pressure members of Congress to vote against the Ley Bases proposed by the ultra-right wing government of Javier Milei.

The labour chapter of the Ley Bases includes:

  • the elimination of fines for organisations who fail to register workers.
  •  an extension of the employee trial period from three to six months for companies with more than 100 employees; eight months for SMEs with up to 99 employees; and one year for micro-enterprises with up to five employees.
  •  the implementation of an optional dismissal fund, which would make workers’ pay for their own severance.

The law also pushes through changes to pensions that disproportionately affect women. Under the new regime, it is expected that only one in eleven women will be able to receive a full pension.

CGT General Secretary Héctor Daer also points to the austerity measures recently implemented by the government which were part of “a brutal restructuring of living conditions for the most vulnerable, leaving a vast number of soup kitchens without food, affecting pensioners and the elderly.”

In a document titled “In Defence of Labour, Social and Retirement Rights and the Trade Union Model”, the CGT denounced: “the elimination of price regulations on food, medication, energy, and essential services, at a time when salaries and purchasing power have fallen; the Minister of Economy’s intervention in wage negotiations, which has blocked the appropriate updating of wages; recession and continual price increases which have led to a decline in economic activity and basic consumption, which represent a huge transfer of resources towards the most concentrated and privileged sectors of the economy.”

Daer also draws attention to the dismissals of public sector workers and the closure of state institutions.  “We are interested in having the chapter on the public sector discussed again,” he adds.

In the UK, the Argentina Solidarity Campaign (ASC) is organising an open gathering on May 9th at King’s Cross, London, to discuss the laws currently being debated in Congress, and to strengthen solidarity with Argentinian workers.

The ASC also invites unions, universities and other organisations to express their solidarity with Argentinian workers on May 9th, by sharing messages on social media and using the hashtags  #NoALaLeyBases  #ParoGeneral #9deMayo #CGT.

Contact; argentinasolidaritycampaign@gmail.com. IG: @argentinasolidarity. X: argsolidarityca

Image: Javier Milei. https://roarnews.co.uk/2023/the-day-after-milei-whats-next-for-argentina/. Creator: Mídia NINJA Copyright: (CC BY-NC 4.0) Mídia NINJA. CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED Atribuição-NãoComercial 4.0 Internacional

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