Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

First Strike against Macri’s government

Public employees in Argentina have launched the first public sector strike with massive protests against Mauricio Macri’s government. They are fighting against layoffs and the criminalization of protest.

Left Voice

February 24, 2016
Facebook Twitter Share

Photo: La Izquierda Diario

This is an adaptation of an article originally published in La Izquierda Diario by Josefina L. Martínez.

The Public workers’ association (in Spanish, the Asociación de Trabajadores del Estado – ATE) called the first public sector strike, protesting against thousands of layoffs of public administration and precarious workers in government agencies. Both wings of the public employees’ union federation (Central de Trabajadores Argentinos – CTA) joined the protest.

Mauricio Macri took office last December. Since then, his administration has issued austerity measures, layoffs of public employees, and currency devaluation. According to the ATE, a total of 25,000 public workers were dismissed. Layoffs are affecting workers all over the country. The Macri administration has announced its new policy of “public administration modernization,” which will include further austerity measures, the closure of public offices, and privatization.

arton32944.jpg

The major unions in the private sector (industry, transport, banks, etc.), divided into different federations, have made a truce with the Macri government and have not joined the strike. Meanwhile, Left groups and rank-and-file union organizations are demanding a plan of action, calling to “set up a massive protest with workers, women and young people.”

The strike confronts massive layoffs and rejects a new anti-protest law pushed by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich. This “anti-protest protocol” will criminalize social protest; it sets restrictions to civil liberties such as freedom of the press and the right to protest. This new protocol echoes other new laws and heavy-handed repression of journalists around the world, including Spain’s “Ley Mordaza” (“Gag Law”) and the detention and harassment of journalists covering the Ferguson protests in August 2014.

photo_03.jpg

The strike began Wednesday morning with several roadblocks (or “piquetes” in Argentina) and demonstrations countrywide. The public employees’ union has called for a demonstration this afternoon at the Plaza de Mayo, which is at the center of the capital of Buenos Aires and a significant place of protest in Argentina. Teachers of Buenos Aires Province from rank-and-file and “fighting” unions will join the protest, together with press workers and left trade unionists.

Also, several protests have taken place in different cities, including Rosario, Cordoba, and Buenos Aires. At the crossing of Corrientes and Callao, one of the main intersections in the capital, a massive “piquete” of approximately 1,000 people blocked the streets for an hour in a great show of force, preventing police from applying the “anti-protest protocol”. In fact, the Police had to leave the place, while the demonstrators remained blocking the street and walked up to the Congress, a few blocks away.

Left and Workers’ Front (FIT) deputies Myriam Bregman, Nicolás del Caño and Christian Castillo – all PTS (Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas) members – have unanimously called to “organize the resistence of workers, women and young people” against the austerity plan and the criminalization of protest.

Facebook Twitter Share

Left Voice

Militant journalism, revolutionary politics.

Labor Movement

A UAW sign is held next to a "Free Palestine" sign

The UAW Has Called for a Ceasefire. It’s Time for All of Labor to Stand Up.

The UAW International union has joined calls for a ceasefire and is exploring how to divest from Israel. This is a step which should inspire union activists to take up the fight to bring their union into the fight against Israel's attack on Gaza and the struggle against imperialism.

Rose Lemlich

December 2, 2023
Protesters in NYC for Palestinian liberation.

Uniting Workers for Palestine Is a Fight for the Future of Labor

The struggle for Palestine shows the potential for the rank and file to push unions to break with imperialism and to build a new, combative, and internationalist unionism.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

November 27, 2023
A rally with people holding signs and a banner reading "Full funding"

Student Workers Stand Up for CUNY and Palestine

Attacks on CUNY and CUNY activists are an attack on all working people and students. Workers and students united can fight back.  

Olivia Wood

November 25, 2023

The Labor Movement Is Key for Palestinian Liberation

As part of the global movement in solidarity with Palestine and against the genocidal policies of the Israeli government, labor unions are taking action and demanding a ceasefire. This is not only a welcomed addition to the movement, but a necessary one that concretely shows the power of the working class.

Tristan Taylor

November 18, 2023

MOST RECENT

All That's Left, the podcast from Left Voice.

#AllThatsLeftPod: What the Historic UAW Victory Means for the Working Class

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the historic UAW victory, its shortcomings, and the tasks for the future.

Left Voice

December 5, 2023

The New Hollywood McCarthyism Emerging Around Palestine

Over the past week, a new Hollywood McCarthyism has emerged: multiple people in Hollywood have jobs and representation over their support of Palestine. We must denounce and fight these attacks which weaken the movement and scare supporters into silence.

Sybil Davis

December 3, 2023

Robert Habeck Wrote a Play Praising a Right-Wing Mass Murderer

Germany's Green vice chancellor strikes many as an idealist who has been struggling with the tough realities of government. Yet before he was a national politician, he wrote a play that opens a window into a dark soul.

Nathaniel Flakin

December 1, 2023

The World Kissinger Built Must Die Too

Henry Kissinger died at 100 years old. But his legacy remains in the brutal world system he built and the future generations of imperialist ghouls he inspired. They all must go.

Samuel Karlin

November 30, 2023