Demonstrators take part in a protest march against the government of President Javier Milei this Wednesday in Buenos Aires. JUAN IGNACIO RONCORONI (EFE)
The General Confederation of Trade Unions (CGT), Argentina's largest union, has called a strike on January 24 this Thursday. The measure was announced after the government of far-right Javier Milei submitted to Congress a bill with more than 600 articles that gives the executive branch legislative powers over economic, tax, customs and even electoral matters and punishes protest. The president's initiative joins a series of previous actions that caused social discontent in the country in the first weeks of the right-wing extremists in the Casa Rosada, such as an economic shock plan or a mega-decree that, among hundreds of other measures, makes legislation more flexible. Work and health system.
The strike announced by the CGT represents a massive mobilization of the National Congress, according to Héctor Daer, one of the general secretaries of the central government. The details will be decided in a plenary session on January 10. The unions showed their first show of force this Wednesday with a rally in the center of Buenos Aires to reject a mega-decree that Milei signed a week ago with more than 300 reforms. According to organizers, the rally gathered more than 20,000 people and ended with six arrests as part of a major security operation to control the march. At the rally, demonstrators were already demanding that union leaders call for a strike. “Set the date!” they demanded from the street.
While this was happening, the Milei administration submitted to Congress an omnibus bill, so-called because of its breadth and variety of subjects, declaring the country a “public emergency” for two years – extendable to four – and granting the president the grant legislative powers and fundamentally changed much of Argentina's political, social and economic structure. The project, which will be discussed in extraordinary sessions of Congress, envisages tightening sanctions against social protest and puts into force the anti-protest protocol signed two weeks ago by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.
Milei intends that any “deliberate and temporary gathering of three or more people” be considered a demonstration, punishable by up to six years in prison if it impedes freedom of movement or the provision of public services. The text warns that any demonstration – even “spontaneous” ones – must be registered in advance and the Security Ministry can object or suggest changes. In addition, social organizers must indicate who is responsible for the calls to facilitate their identification in case they deserve criminal sanctions. The bill also makes changes to the criminal code to expand the right to self-defense and provide greater support to security forces.
Added to this are the dismissals by decree of more than 5,000 civil servants hired last year and the economic measures announced by Economy Minister Luis Caputo in the first week of government. The head of the Finance Palace then presented a decalogue that, among other measures, envisaged a 50% devaluation of the national currency and a cut in subsidies for energy and transport, which will come into force from January. This brutal adjustment came on top of the already critical economic situation in Argentina – where inflation exceeds 160% and poverty exceeds 40%. The most vulnerable sectors were the first to feel the impact on their pockets.
The union centers have not called a strike since 2019, during the government of the conservative Mauricio Macri. In the four years of the Peronist Alberto Fernández's term in office, no measures of this kind were announced, despite the economic deterioration. Since Milei's arrival at Casa Rosada, union members have been taking the thermometer and cautiously moving forward with measures to stop what they see as the “subjugation” of rights. In recent weeks they have challenged the government's measures in three ways: they presented a precautionary measure against Milei's mega-decree, which was rejected by the judiciary; They met with members of Congress and took to the streets. In a climate of growing social conflict, the CGT finally set a strike date for this Thursday.