Ludueña. “We are asking the national leadership of the CGT to call upon the regional branches to implement an action plan”
Interview conducted on the program “Mediodías con la RAC,” broadcast on Radio Arraigo, FM 102.7, with Ernesto Ludueña, General Secretary of the CGT of La Matanza.
We want to know your opinion about what happened last Wednesday, August 28, when retirees were repressed in Congress while protesting against President Milei’s veto of the mobility law, and your opinion on pensions, as it affects not only retirees but also current and future workers.
“Firstly, we condemn the government’s actions because we believe they are stripping social rights from our retirees and pensioners, who have spent many years working for the national state and entrusted their money for future dignified income. On the contrary, they can’t even access a subsistence wage, and their health insurance, PAMI, is cutting off medications. Furthermore, as a regional body, we have expressed our condemnation of what happened on Wednesday; it is alarming.
This government’s behavior has only one mission: to work for large concentrated groups, taking away from the people the social rights that were once provided by a truly humanistic government. We appeal to legislators in both chambers to ratify the approved law with their votes.”
Sturzenegger has said that labor reform will be regulated so that employers can fire workers according to their needs. Since this government took office, over 500,000 jobs have been lost. What will you do about this?
“The number is even higher; over 400,000 bank payroll accounts have been closed, and 200,000 self-employed workers have also shut down their accounts. This person can say whatever he wants, but they will have to respect the current constitution, which was voted on in 1994 and maintains Article 14 bis that addresses labor rights. Therefore, any labor reform would require amending the constitution first. On another note, the right to protest is not respected and is repressed at will. This is a dictatorial government. If they do not respect labor laws, they will face many lawsuits; the judiciary has already ruled against that part of Decree 7/23.”
It has been declared unconstitutional, for example, the prohibition of union activities in workplaces, such as assemblies, blockades, etc., which are measures workers use to protest.
“There have been judicial rulings regarding non-compliance with what the Constitution stipulates. They are selling rotten fish to the business community that likes this kind of music, when in reality, they should be concerned because 10,000 SMEs have already closed in over 8 months of government, while under Macri, 25,000 closed in 4 years. Small and medium-sized businesses cannot cope with fixed costs; wages are not the problem for companies. The real problem is that sales have dropped by over 50%. Wholesalers are stopping food sales, and so are the small stores; we know this because we are in this sector. That is where the severity of the problem lies, not in the labor laws that protect workers.”
The Federal Police repressed judicial workers when they peacefully protested salary reductions, misnamed the income tax. Garrahan’s doctors are on a 24-hour strike, aviation workers are fighting for wages, and retirees have also been repressed. Does this situation warrant a measure from the CGT, a call to the organic bodies, and regional branches for some decisive action?
“You see all the documents we are releasing. Our rejection and condemnation of these austerity policies are clear; we are in a state of alert and permanent mobilization as the La Matanza region. We are asking the national leadership to call upon all regional branches to develop an action plan for defending workers’ wages and rights and defending trade unions because these people are coming to take everything down, and we need to work on rejection and resistance because Argentina is at risk.”
On September 20, National Pensioners’ Day, a multisectoral mobilization is being organized in defense of retirees. Does the CGT understand that it needs to be there that day, supporting?
“Yes. We need to be there, with national leadership at the forefront, because it’s about having the leaders at the head or with the leaders’ heads. We need to support retirees and pensioners.”
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