The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.29           September 1, 1997 
 
 
Argentine Strikers Protest Austerity  

BY HILDA CUZCO
A general strike paralyzed much of Argentina August 14. Participants in the 24-hour work stoppage demanded an end to President Carlos Menem's austerity policies and denounced antilabor bills proposed by Menem. Protest actions included marches and roadblocks in many provinces and larger cities including the capital, Buenos Aires.

According to the Buenos Aires daily El Clarín, demonstrators blockaded the highways at close to 70 sites around the country. The strike was strongest in industrial areas such as Rosario and Santa Fe. In the industrial regions worst hit by the economic crisis, such as Neuquén, Jujuy, and Tierra del Fuego, activity came to a halt. The labor action had an impact in other provinces as well, including Tucumán, Entre Ríos, and Chaco.

The rate of unemployment in some provinces is as high as 40 percent, especially where previously state-owned industries now under private ownership have slashed jobs in the name of competitiveness. Such is the case in Rosario, an industrial center that today has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country, as well as Tierra del Fuego, where many factories have recently closed. Nationally unemployment stands at 16 percent, slightly less than two years ago, when it peaked at 18 percent.

In Cutral-Có and Plaza Huincul, in the province of Neuquén, fogoneros (fire starters) led the actions by blocking the highways. Thousands have lost their jobs in those towns since the state oil enterprise YPF was sold to private capitalists. The fogoneros got their name last April, as groups of masked youth and workers blocked the roads in Neuquén with barricades and burning tires. That rebellion was detonated by a local teachers strike against a 20 percent wage cut. During the latest strike actions, more than 3,000 people demonstrated in Neuquén. Their action was disrupted by the police.

The day of protests was the "least successful and the most violent strike," Minister of Interior Carlos Corach declared, attempting to downplay the impact of the demonstrations and roadblocks. The most violent attacks were by the cops against demonstrators in Buenos Aires, La Plata, and Cutral-Có. Meanwhile, piqueteros (pickets) blocked highways in Jujuy, Tierra del Fuego, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Neuquén, and Río Negro.

In the Buenos Aires area, groups of unemployed workers joined with the striking unionists. Around 150 pickets blocked Highway 3, chanting slogans against the government and demanding jobs. Soon after they lit bonfires and began burning tires, the police arrived. The cops fired rubber bullets and chased the protesters, who responded by pelting the police with sticks and other projectiles. One cop and 10 demonstrators were injured in the clash. Two people, including a wounded protester, were placed under arrest.

The unions organizing the strike - the Confederation of Argentine Workers, the Movement of Argentine Workers, Combative Current, and the metalworkers union UOM - declared the actions a success. These unions are critical of the General Labor Federation (CGT), which supports the government and its package of "labor flexibilization" bills. Under this legislation, trade unionists would lose collective bargaining rights and employers would have greater leeway to dismiss workers.

The strike received verbal backing from a newly formed electoral bloc of the two main bourgeois parties opposing Menem's Peronist party. The alliance, made up of the Radical Party and the Front for a Country in Solidarity, or Frepaso, responded to the recent upsurge of working-class protests in Argentina by posturing as a friend of labor and critic of the Menem regime's austerity measures, hoping to channel the social demands of the workers into capitalist electoral politics. The aim of the alliance is to win a majority in the October congressional elections and position itself to run against Menem in the 1999 presidential campaign.

The most popular signs carried by strikers reflected their total rejection of the austerity and other criticisms against the government. Signs reading "No to corruption," "No more impunity," "Jobs for all," and "Decent wages" were common.

President Menem received a visit from 100 demonstrators at the main entrance of the presidential residence of Olivos, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The protesters shouted slogans against his government of austerity, disrupting a cabinet meeting. In the afternoon 40 young people blocked a main avenue in the area for about three hours and painted "Freedom for the fogoneros in Jujuy" on the street as well as other anti-Menem slogans.

In La Plata, police attacked the roadblocks set up by about 200 strikers, arresting 79 and wounded a young woman with a rubber bullet.  
 
 
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