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A socialist newsweekly published in the interests of working people
Vol. 64/No. 25June 26, 2000


Argentine strike hits government cutbacks

BY PATRICK O'NEILL  
Millions of workers in Argentina participated in a one-day general strike on June 9. The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) called the action in response to cutbacks announced by the government of Fernando De la Rúa, including 12 to 15 percent cuts in the salaries of public employees.

Union leaders reported that between 80 and 90 percent of the country's 14-million strong workforce participated in the nationwide walkout. Interior Minister Federico Storani claimed a lower figure of 60 percent.

Customs workers, school teachers, staff at hospitals, airports, and public utility companies, train workers, and garbage collectors were among those who observed the call, severely curtailing or altogether cutting services. The employees in the Government House--the presidential office--stayed away as well.

Uncollected garbage lined city streets and shopping districts. Among taxi drivers who joined the strike, five were arrested in Rosario, accused by police of using slingshots in their attempts to discourage other drivers from working. The cops arrested more than 50 people during the day, alleging similar activity.

"No to the austerity plan," chanted demonstrators in the capital of Buenos Aires. Jobless workers joined unionists in protests numbering in the hundreds, beating drums, throwing firecrackers, and in some cases blockading highways.

Two wings of the CGT officialdom, at odds with each other since a split in March of this year, united forces to call the strike. At that time, truckers union president Hugo Moyano led a breakaway from the CGT after the organization's officials backed off a threat to organize a general strike to counter legislation aimed at weakening union powers and workers' rights.  
 
Government jolted by strike support
The government was clearly jolted by the support the strike received. President de la Rúa tried to violence-bait the strikers, saying that "in place of violence we need dialogue." The government offered to open talks on economic policy with representatives of unions, business, and the Catholic Church.

CGT president Rodolfo Daer called the strike a "plebiscite" in which the population had demanded a "change of course" by the government. Since his inauguration as president in December at the head of the "Alliance" coalition, de la Rúa has implemented a series of austerity measures that have squeezed workers' pay, undermined union rights, and cut funding to the impoverished provinces.

The unions called the general strike to protest a cut in public spending amounting to $938 million--2 percent of the government budget--announced in the last week of May. The austerity program calls not only for slashing the salaries of public workers, but for a reduction in public retirement payments.

With these measures de la Rúa hopes to meet the guidelines imposed by the International Monetary Fund--an institution dominated by the imperialist powers, and especially Washington--as a condition of a $7 billion-plus emergency credit line opened up after the government's initial austerity and antilabor measures.

The Argentine economy has been mired in recession for nearly two years, and shrank by 3 percent in 1999. Official unemployment stands at 14 percent, reaching 20 percent or more in the poorer provinces. The Argentine capitalists have fallen behind their neighbors and competitors in Latin America in Brazil and Chile.

The general strike came on top of a number of labor and other actions, including, a smaller nationwide stoppage in May. Social rebellions, led by employed and unemployed workers, hit the province of Corrientes last December, and more recently Salta.

Reporting on the general strike with an unmistakable tone of concern, New York Times reporter Clifford Kraus wrote June 9 that "labor and social unrest is building in the countryside. Farmers who are seeking easier credit are threatening an extensive work action this month."

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