A Crowd mobilized this Thursday in front of the National Congress as part of a call for tenders CGT and the two of them CTAwith replicas in various parts of the country. The protest, which coincided with important days in parliament, was marked by strong criticism of the national government, demands for salaries, pensions and social rights, and warnings of an intensification of trade union conflict.
The topic was analyzed in the program “QR!”what leads Pablo Caruso from Bravo TV. There, the journalist highlighted the compact nature of the mobilization in the city of Buenos Aires and emphasized its federal dimension. “It was a national call, not just focused on Plaza de Mayo. There were marches all over the country and it needs to be seen on this scale,” he said.
Key union leaders spoke during the central event. Jorge SolaCo-Secretary General of the CGT, stressed that “there is no freedom without social justice” and warned that the protest marks the start of a battle plan that could culminate in a general strike if the executive does not change course. “This is the first step. If they continue not to listen to us, the reaction will be to tighten measures,” he said on stage.
In the same vein, the Secretary General of the CGT said: Cristian Jeronimoreferred to the government’s economic model and questioned official promises. “Where is that? Dollar rain? Where are the salaries that would fly? “People are doing badly,” he said, while denouncing the impact of the adjustment on pensioners and vulnerable sectors.
The day’s political analysis was conducted by the former state representative Carlos Hellerwho linked the massiveness of the march to the climate created by recent debates in Congress. As he explained, the protest cannot be separated from what happened in the handling of the budget and labor reform. “Everything is pressing. The march has to do with what happened in Congress and vice versa. We are at a turning point,” he explained.
Heller considered that the ruling party is in a different phase than after the elections, stressing that the rejection of some important articles of the budget highlights internal tensions and political limitations. “It has become clear that the budget balance is selective. They have not been able to make sensible cuts and that is a serious blow,” he said.
The CGT’s march against labor reform is already supported by ATE, CTA and UOM
In this context, the journalist Guido Gambini detailed the contents of the controversial Chapter 11 of the budget project, which included the abolition of the cold zone regime – with a direct impact on gas tariffs -, changes in the indexation of AUH and family allowances, cuts in non-contributory pensions and changes in university funding and the pediatric emergency. Several of these issues failed to advance, partly due to social and political pressure.
The union mobilization thus left a clear signal of rejection of official policy and consolidated the scenario of a major confrontation between the government and the labor movement. Given the debate over labor reform and new negotiations underway in Congress, unions expect the conflict could escalate in the coming weeks.
L.B
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