Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Argentina: strike and roadblocks in access highways to Buenos Aires

As announced yesterday by rank-and-file delegates and left trade unionists, the national strike day began with road blocks at highways and bridges that link surrounding areas to the city.

Left Voice

March 31, 2015
Facebook Twitter Share

Panamericana highway

The roadblock started early this morning, at 5 AM, at Panamericana in front of Lear Corporation.

At the Northern Area in Greater Buenos Aires, militant and left wing unionists and rank-and-file delegates from Lear, Donnelley, Kraft, Pepsico, Stani, Fate and many other factories and companies, alongside with teachers and students, blocked the Panamericana.

At Lear Corporation Factory, militant workers talked to La Izquierda Diario . “This place is where we must be today. This company is a symbol of a tough fight, our fight for reinstallation. That is why former Donnelley’s workers joined us here today”.

Workers of Lear Corporation were joined by Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Alicorp, teachers from SUTEBA Tigre, students’ unions from Philosophy, Sociology and Psichology colleges from Buenos Aires University.

Rubén Matu, Lear workers’ delegate said that, at a meeting last Saturday at Madygraf (former Donnelley), “We decided this action to demand all workers’ rights. Wages are no profit, that is why we reject the workers’ income taxes. Today we are in front of Lear Corporation factory to demand the reinstallation of dismissed workers; and we are demanding also MadyGraf (former Donnelley) expropriation. These three are the main struggles at the Northern Area today, and these are our demands at the national strike.”

About Lear corporation, Matu said: “We know the factory isn’t working as usual, and we don’t think workers will show to work today. Workers have decided to support the strike, the highway is empty, and there are no buses; workers didn’t show to work. Factories are stopped”.

Javier “Poke” Hermosilla, from shop-steward committee at Kraft, said they are at Panamericana supporting the strike and they are blocking the highway because there a lot of demands that need to be taken in account, not only the income tax. “In the food industry, we need a contract update, we need to end with labor precarization, and layoffs. We had assemblies at the factory and we had a vote to join the strike. We even forced, with these meetings, that the general secretary of the trade union join the strike.”

Pueyrredon Bridge

At 6 AM, workers, fighting unions and the Left and Workers’ Front blocked the Pueyrredon Bridge, which links the surrounding southern areas to the city.

Workers from oil company Shell, Calsa and many other factories joined the roadblock. Shell’s workers demand the reinstatement of dismissed workers. Railroad workers also joined the strike, even when union bureaucrats never called an assembly or a simple vote on the strike.

Patricio del Corro, legislator elected from Left and Workers’ Front, said they were supporting the strike alongside “workers from Shell, Calsa and other companies; high school students unions from the Southern area. We are not only rejecting the income tax; we are protesting today because one in three workers in Argentina has no benefits or union rights”.

Yesterday, rank-and-file delegates and left unionists had announced roadblocks. The press conference was held by Claudio Dellecarbonara (Subway), Javier “Poke” Hermosilla (Kraft-Terrabusi), Jorge Medina (former Donnelley), and national deputy Nicolás del Caño and state legislator from Buenos Aires Christian Castillo, both from Left and Workers’ Front, within others.

Actions planned for today:

Greater Buenos Aires

Panamericana, Lear factory
5AM: Shop-steward committees from Mondelez Pacheco (former Kraft) and PepsiCo, rank and file delegates from Mondelez Victoria (former Stani), delegates from teachers’ union from Tigre and Escobar districts, workers from SMATA, dismissed workers from Gestamp, workers from Johnson Controls, Volskwagen, Printpack, Fate, WordColor and General Mills.

Pueyrredón Bridge
6 AM: Workers’ Committee from Shell, Honda and Calsa, airport workers from de Ezeiza, delegates from Coca Cola (Alcorta), railroad workers, teachers and university students’ unions.

La Plata
7 AM: Shipyard Rio Santiago, public workers unions, and university students’ federation.

Rosario
6 AM: Roadblock at Santa Fe Highway, at Liliana factory gates.

Neuquén
11 AM: Roadblock at Cipolletti-Neuquén bridge, Ceramic workers Union, teachers’ unions, and health workers.
There will be roadblocks also in Cordoba, Jujuy, and Tucuman.

Facebook Twitter Share

Left Voice

Militant journalism, revolutionary politics.

Latin America

A square in Argentina is full of protesters holding red banners

48 Years After the Military Coup, Tens of Thousands in Argentina Take to the Streets Against Denialism and the Far Right

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Argentina on March 24 to demand justice for the victims of the state and the military dictatorship of 1976. This year, the annual march had renewed significance, defying the far-right government’s denialism and attacks against the working class and poor.

Madeleine Freeman

March 25, 2024

Declaration: End Imperialist Intervention in Haiti, Solidarity with the Haitian People

The “Multinational Security Support Mission” announced by the United States marks a new imperialist-colonial intervention in Haiti by the United States, the UN, and their allies.

The Fight against Javier Milei Has Set The Stage For a Whole New Wave of Struggle

The defeat of the Omnibus Law is a key victory for the movement against Javier Milei’s austerity plan and attacks on democratic rights. It shows that the working class and oppressed have the power to fight against the advance of the Far Right in Argentina and across the world.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

February 9, 2024

Defying Repression: Socialist Electeds in Argentina Show Us What Revolutionary Parliamentarism Looks Like

Workers in Argentina are defying police repression and fighting back against the far-right government’s shock therapy. Trotskyist members of congress are not just protesting inside the chamber — they are on the front lines of the demonstrations, getting pepper sprayed and shot with rubber bullets.

Nathaniel Flakin

February 9, 2024

MOST RECENT

The Convulsive Interregnum of the International Situation

The capitalist world is in a "permacrisis" — a prolonged period of instability which may lead to catastrophic events. The ongoing struggles for hegemony could lead to open military conflicts.

Claudia Cinatti

March 22, 2024

Berlin’s Mayor Loves Antisemites

Kai Wegner denounces the “antisemitism” of left-wing Jews — while he embraces the most high-profile antisemitic conspiracy theorist in the world.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 22, 2024

What “The Daily” Gets Right and Wrong about Oregon’s Move to Recriminalize Drugs

A doctor at an overdose-prevention center responds to The Daily, a podcast produced by the New York Times, on the recriminalization of drugs in Oregon. What are the true causes of the addiction crisis, and how can we solve it?

Mike Pappas

March 22, 2024

Lord Balfour Was an Imperialist Warmonger 

We should give our full solidarity to the Palestine Action comrade who defaced a portrait of Arthur Balfour at Cambridge University. But the problem for everyone who opposes the genocide against Gaza is how to massify and politically equip the movement.

Daniel Nath

March 21, 2024