Juan Carlos Schmid: “Labor rights are the umbrella for informal workers”

In dialogue with Fontevecchia modefrom Net TV And Radio profile (AM 1190) Juan Carlos SchmidSecretary General of the Argentine Transport Workers Association (CATT), responded to the arguments in favor of the labor reform project, which assure that the changes will benefit informal workers. “To believe that breaking up the ground we stand on will improve the people beneath us is to ignore that.” Our floor is the roof that they have over their heads.“He started.

Juan Carlos Schmid is a prominent union leader and general secretary of the Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers. He was re-elected to the position in October this year for a new term until 2029. He is also Secretary General of the Maritime Port and Naval Industry Federation.

The CGT marches this Thursday to Plaza de Mayo against labor reform

What expectations do you have about the size, success and impact that the CGT march and today’s general strike could create?

Today a mobilization is taking place and our aim is to take very carefully into account that there will be a large number of workers who are certainly part of the universe registered in Argentina. They will also accompany expressions such as the UTEP, inhabited mainly by precarious workers, who will accompany this protest, which, by the way, is an expression of democracy. Protest on the streets is an expression of democracy. It implies discontent and the practice that politics must have in trying to channel these tensions in the democratic system.

In private conversations with leaders of great importance like yours, they express a certain fear that since the labor reform affects a third of workers, that is, those who are registered, only they feel affected, because the other two thirds are monotributists or employees of platforms or directly people who are in the black. There were even some until they felt it would “level the playing field.” How do you see the problem of representation for the CGT, which 50 years ago represented 90% of all workers and today represents a third?

It’s a good observation that he makes, because the labor landscape in Argentina has effectively changed, particularly in the last 30 or 40 years, which in some ways reflects the failure of economic policy. Because it is not the first time that there has been an attempt at labor reform, and after every attempt at labor reform, whether with law or without law, there is in fact a relaxation of labor regulations, and what is not actually sanctioned in Parliament is actually sanctioned. This has happened in recent years. The Argentine economic system is unable to achieve high productivity and good levels of employment. This is a demand that we always place on the exercise of politics, regardless of which party is in government.

On the other hand, this represents a challenge for us, a challenge in the cultural area. Sometimes I try to avoid listening to reports or debates on television because the existing mediocrity is becoming more and more tiring. Do you know why? Because to believe that the collapse of the ground we stand on will improve the people beneath us is to ignore that our ground is the roof over their heads. Labor rights are the umbrella of informal workers, and when they fall, they will fall on their heads. Well, this is a cultural battle. Of course, we need to convince anyone who interprets that things are different that this will actually be even more regressive and unfair.

And what projection does it produce? How do you imagine today’s march? Multitudinary? What message do you think this fight will leave? What impact will it have?

I think the march will be important. I never like weighing numbers because in folklore it matters whether they are 100 or 50. It is an expression that in my opinion This is the first letter of introduction to this new CGT policythe best letter of recommendation he has: it embodies the defense of what we still have. Falling into the logic that we are defending the boxes or just our own is a simplification, because ultimately the historical process has shown that none of these problems have ever led to economic growth or job growth. On the contrary, we have been stagnating for a long time. So it is an important demonstration for us, and it is also a political question for us to offer an alternative that goes beyond the labor question. Because in Argentina we can have the most flexibility, but even the slaves had to be fed.

You use the phrase “CGT cover letter”. Is today’s mobilization a first step in a series of steps the CGT will take to take a more confrontational stance towards the government?

It’s inevitable because This government’s presentation letter has always been an offensive to the opposition. All institutions suffer from this, including the press. It is a government that wants to complete this first phase of adjustment because it will lead to growth, but so far it has shown nothing other than a logic of permanent adjustment. And I have the impression that the government believes that the construction of the rights that we defend, from a different perspective, is based on the idea that the only right is the one that is enforced by force. And I say that because there are laws that have been passed in Congress that the executive branch has vetoed, and if that’s not enough, I fear the infantry guard on the street. That is, there is a demonstration of authoritarianism and a tendency in this sense that, in my opinion, weakens even the democratic system itself.

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