Behind the inflamed verb of Pablo Moyanowhich recently risked a second general strike of the CGT For “the end of March or beginning of April”, there is hidden a somewhat disjointed strategy of the labor union since it welcomed Javier Miley with a strike 45 days after taking office. The eventual measure of force is still far from gathering internal consensus in the Cegetista heart despite the discomfort and uncertainty that guide today the link with libertarian management.
“We are in a marathon, which will last four years. We already made a strike. We cannot do it every month,” an authoritative voice from the CGT that represents the automatic majority, as the internal alliance represented by “the Fats” (large service unions) is called in the jargon, lowers the tone of the confrontation. and the self-proclaimed “independents” (Uocra and state parties of UPCN and AySA).
A new general strike is not in the plans for now on the union roadmap despite Moyano’s threat. Before taking that step, the CGT will await the evolution of the sectoral conflicts that are latent, especially those that have to do with the delay in the approval by the Ministry of Labor of the salary increases. Next week there could be a strike by buses and truckers over this issue, although it could grow and drag all transporters into the protest, including railways and aeronautical companies, on a war footing for joint ventures and possible privatizations. This move could reunite the Moyano with Luis Barrionuevowhich stirs up conflict through Omar Maturano while maintaining open negotiations with those close to Milei for funds for union social works.
Other dates marked in the Cegetista calendar are the PJ summit next Friday, which will serve as the starting bell for the party refoundation after the electoral failure of Sergio Massa, and the mobilization of March 24 for the Day of Memory, Truth and Justicewhich is anticipated to be numerous and multisectoral in the face of Javier Milei’s challenge to once again call into question the number of people who disappeared during the military dictatorship.
Despite the wage liquefaction and the collapse of activity in several key industries for the economic muscle, the CGT does not plan to corporately step on the accelerator of the conflict until after Easter. Hector Daer, one of the leaders of the labor union, held meetings with governors and legislators from different parties to exchange views on the economic direction of Milei’s management. These meetings will continue this week to lobby against the new omnibus law and the Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) 70/23 rejected in the Senate. The CGT maintains its opposition to both initiatives and took the side of the provinces in the struggle for the distribution of the co-participation. The unions fear that the values of the non-taxable minimum income tax will be reviewed and that almost one and a half million workers will once again pay the tax that weighs on their salaries.
On Tuesday there were two signs of truce from the CGT. The first occurred in a friendly context for the Government. Daer and Andrés Rodríguez presented to businessmen at AmCham, the business event organized by the United States Chamber of Commerce in Argentina. They opened the door there to discuss a labor reform, but “consensual.” Music for the ears of the audience. That same day, Sandra Pettovello, Minister of Human Capital, made official Julio Cordero, Techint Group lawyeras Omar Yasin’s replacement in the Labor Secretary. Cordero is an old acquaintance for the unions, who aspire to activate with him a channel of communication with the Government that never materialized. It did not even prosper from Hugo Moyano’s brief management with the Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona, whom the trucker boss has known for years due to judicial, union and even football-related issues, when the famous vote 38 to 38 between Marcelo Tinelli and Luis Segura to replace Julio Grondona in the AFA. The current minister was the legal advisor to Segura, head of the entity when the FIFA Gate broke out.
Cordero’s relationship with some CGT leaders borders on friendship. For a decade now he has spent a week in Geneva with many union leaders once a year at the summit of the International Labor Organization, where he attended on behalf of Techint and the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA). Cordero resigned on Wednesday from Paolo Rocca’s emporium and from his representation in the UIA, and awaits his appointment in the Official Gazette. During this parenthesis of informality, he would have agreed with more than one union interlocutor to review the reasons why dozens of joint agreements were not approved by Yasin. The expelled official, who responded to Jorge Triaca, argues privately that he did not endorse the salary increases by order of the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, and the Chief of Staff, Nicolás Posse, because the percentages exceeded the projected monthly inflation. “Long live the free joint ventures,” ironically says a union member who is still waiting for the green light to be given to a 40% increase for the January-February two-month period.
When Milei’s management was taking its first steps and the fine print of the DNU was being prepared, it was Cordero who acted as an intermediary between the CGT and the Government. In a secret summit at the Uocra headquarters, the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, met with the dialogue wing of the labor union. The new labor secretary also participated. Nothing that was discussed there was later reflected in the presidential decree, according to sources from both sectors. Milei’s advance with the labor reform by decree was considered a provocation for the unions, who felt their power of representation and collection was threatened for the first time in a long time. The labor chapter of the DNU was finally suspended until the Supreme Court issues its ruling after a string of judicial rulings in lower instances that the Cegetista leadership considered as its own triumph. The union influence in labor law remains intact.
This week the Court gave signals through Horacio Rosatti, its president, but also through Ricardo Lorenzetti, who is not in his plans for now to deal with the labor chapter of the DNU that was challenged. “The judge is not there to replace politics,” said Rosatti in Amcham, the same business auditorium that a few hours later heard Daer and Rodríguez. The message was like a splash of cold water for the CGT, which is betting on a favorable ruling in the highest court. In fact, there were some isolated and independent efforts to know the Court’s timing despite the recommendation not to put pressure that Alberto García Lema and Ricardo Gil Lavedra, two constitutionalists who would have advised the unions in this fight, issued.
Regardless of the fate of the labor chapter of the DNU, the CGT closely follows the course of the economy. There are some old union wolves who fantasize about a reaction of the middle class as a fuse for social protest against inflation and the increase in public service rates. The unionists are betting on an uprising in society against the policy of the blender and the chainsaw, which came under suspicion after the confusing episode of the salary increase for Milei, his cabinet and the legislators.
The slowdown in inflation in February [fue de 13,2%] It served Milei to cover his political limitations with his economic discourse. Pablo Moyano questioned the measurement and accused Marco Lavagna, head of Indec, of being a “master draftsman.” The inflation projections that two consultants presented to the CGT gave them between 15 and 17% for February. A new flash of inflation could be lethal for the President, the unions consider.
Social credit, the anti-inflationary crusade and the moderation of the exchange market still keep Milei’s acceptance levels high, which resumed its promise of dollarization of the domestic economy. Domingo Cavallo, who became an advisor in the shadows of the libertarian management, confessed among businessmen that he felt somewhat vindicated by what he considers a sincerity of the economy and was encouraged again to frequent the discussion tables. Café Tabac without fear of escrache and disapproval.
Themes
Other political news
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/lanacionar/B5AJRPUURVHRJB4BBB3PIMMHGA.JPG)
The business behind terror. Drug trafficking in Rosario moves more than 100 million dollars a year
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/lanacionar/TDVRT73LJVBANJVEUEG3PJVGZI.jpg)
Friction with the provinces. The governors continue to have reservations about the restitution of profits and avoid responsibility for the fate of the DNU
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/lanacionar/TR5MLBOUIBHLDB6ZU4YKXK4VIY.JPG)