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sandensea

(21,526 posts)
Fri Oct 4, 2019, 04:00 AM Oct 2019

Argentina's second-largest labor federation votes to reunify with larger rival

Last edited Fri Oct 4, 2019, 10:55 AM - Edit history (1)

Argentina's second-largest labor federation, the Argentine Workers' Center (CTA), approved a plan to rejoin their larger rival, the General Labor Confederation (CGT), after 28 years.

If approved by the CGT, the addition of the CTA's 1.5 million members (mainly teachers and public employees) to the former's 2.5 million would again make the CGT one of Latin America's largest labor federations.

"The sense of what we unanimously approved was to reunify the labor movement," CTA founder and leader Hugo Yasky explained. "We want the labor movement to have a stronger voice, because we're entering a different political time."

Elections this October in Argentina are expected to sweep out right-wing President Mauricio Macri, who, according to critics, has overseen the largest transfer of wealth from the country's working and middle-class majority to its elites since the 1976-83 dictatorship.

The share of wages and salaries in the national income fell from 54% to 48% since 2015, while real wages have plummeted nearly 20%. Corporations and wealthy Argentines have meanwhile offshored up to $107 billion in four years - a figure matched by the increase in the nation's public foreign debt.

The CGT and CTA have endorsed Macri's center-left opponent, Alberto Fernández - the keynote speaker at today's CTA congress.

"They want to make us believe that we have too many rights," Fernández said in reference to Macri's domestic policies. "But the best societies are those who distribute rights, not those which take them away. Rescinded rights mean worse societies, and worse men and women."

Crisis makes unity

CGT leaders have largely expressed approval for Yasky's announcement - though the CTA's independent streak remains a sticking point for some.

"There are still internal discussions about the possible reincorporation of the CTA," CGT Deputy Secretary General Andrés Rodríguez admitted. "What will define the CTA's admittance is that they recognize the CGT as the federation's authority."

"If they do, there will be no inconvenience."

Both the CGT and CTA have themselves reunified over the last three years in response to the ongoing 'Macrisis' - a debt crisis combined with the deepest recession in two decades.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&tab=wT&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pagina12.com.ar%2F223378-la-cta-aprobo-avanzar-en-la-unidad-con-la-cgt



Opposition candidate Alberto Fernández greets attendees at the CTA's annual congress this evening.

CTA founder and leader Hugo Yasky (fourth from left) advanced rejoining the larger CGT to strengthen labor's role in a likely Fernández administration - which, while pro-labor, will also inherit the most serious debt crisis in two decades.

The CGT supports reunification in principle - though concerns over the CTA's independent streak remains a hurdle for some.
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