>From: "Nestor Miguel Gorojovsky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Dear comrades and friends, > >A short report on what has happened in Argentinian politics today. > >One of the first laws that the De La Rúa government is attempting to >pass through the Congress, in order to comply with what both the >establishment and the IMF request, is the so called the "labor >reform" (reforma laboral) law. This simply amounts to give legal >sanction to what is currently the plight of Argentinian workers, >induces further downfall of wages, reduces protection to workers both >in medical as in safety conditions, attempts to break the bargaining >power of the large unions into myriads of arrangements at the lowest >possible level (the ideal is man by man at the workshop, but this >cannot be said in the open). Up to this moment, most of the rights >conquered by Argentinian workers are violated systematically but out >of the law. The loss of legal rights has not advanced as much as the >model needs, if the 1 dollar = 1 peso parity is to be maintained! >With an unemployment rate well above 15% and a 60% of the active >population either unemployed, underemployed, overemployed or actively >seeking to change job, the mechanisms of the reserve army work at >their fullest, and laws, even the laws amended since 1976, are broken >systematically. But this is not enough. The idea, now, is to have all >this hell approved by the Congress. > >In order to negotiate with the government, the whole gang of Menemist >union leaders ( Daer, West Ocampo, Cavallieri, and some others) >thought it wise to propel to the leadership of the CGT the combative >leader of the Teamsters, Hugo Moyano. They supposed they would come >to terms with De La Rúa under the pressure of Moyano, then discard >Moyano as a used paper bag. > >In fact, there was little else they could do, because they were too >pressed from below and would have to yield and allow the combative >unionists to lead the CGT (General Confederation of Labour). In a >sense, they lost any power once Menem lost the Presidency. They >needed to gain new power by arriving at an agreement with De La Rúa. > >They supposed that, while De La Rúa stuck (as he wants to stick) to >the recipes of the IMF, their future was safe. They were the >consumate Quislings, what else, who else would De La Rúa come to an >agreement with? > >After a couple of weeks of fake opposition to the labor reform law, >these traitors (technical term) suddenly reached an agreement with De >La Rúa the day before yesterday. They agreed to support the law in >exchange for the management of workers' monies in the social care >system of the unions. But something happened. > >Moyano, one of the heads of the Movimiento de los Trabajadores >Argentinos (MTA), the struggling wing of the CGT, had been elected as >future Secretary General of the unions' central (he is due to take >the post March 16th). At the same time, Daer and his friends had >agreed to call for a meeting of the Comité Central Confederal >(Federal Central Council, the highest level organism of the CGT, the >one which detachs from itself the Consejo Directivo, that is the >Operative Board, where the Secretary General is only the chairman) on >February 23rd, in order to discuss the measures to be taken against >the law. The CCC had not been meeting for years, which implies that >the mandates of Daer and his similars were long overdue. The MTA had >been struggling for a CCC since 1995, without success. This CCC was a >part of the agreement by which the MTA accepted to steer a transition >from the direction of Daer to that of Moyano. > >Now, once the agreement between Daer(which acts on behalf of the CGT) >and the government was signed, Daer announced that the mobilization >that had been programmed for today was not to be held, and at late >hours of February 22nd it looked as if Moyano had thus been, >effectively, used, and duped. > >What happened the 23rd, however, was wonderful. The crisis has >reached a limit. Moyano and the MTA leadership broke open the gates >of the CGT building that morning and, with full support of the >historic leader of the old "62 organizaciones" (the traditional >fraction that Peronist workers relied on during the 1955-1976 period) >Lorenzo Miguel through his apparent sucessor the Metallurgic "Barba" >Gutierrez, and of the Construction and Mechanics unions, they imposed >the CCC on a stunned Daer, who at the same time was attending a >meeting held by the whole establishment and the De La Rua cabinet, >and visiting the Representatives who, on the 24th, were to vote the >law.. > >Once broken the agreement between Daer and the MTA, the next move of >Daer (which was already being publicized by the media) was to impose >a different Secretary General, and to postpone the meeting that had >to be held, as a previous step with the very combative Regionals of >the CGT (the local branches in the Inland country). The CCC, first >and foremost, proclaimed that this meeting was to be held on March >13th, confirmed Moyano as future Secretary General, voted to support >and organize today's march, and a couple of important measures I do >not recall now. Daer was not expelled, but it was unnecessary: he had >put himself in the hands of De La Rúa, out of the game of the unions. > >So that today, when the first votes were cast at the Congress by the >Diputados (Representatives), the march to the Plaza de Mayo was being >organized fully. It was a bad day for such a mobilization, the CGT >did not call for a general strike, and pressure from the management >was (and of course will be) very hard. I would have been glad to >watch a meeting of 10,000 people. What finally happened is that some >25,000 people gathered at the Plaza de Mayo (the police speaks of >18,000), and Moyano delivered a very intelligent speech of struggle. > >What he basically said can be resumed like this: "We are not >confronting the government, we are confronting directly the >International Monetary Fund. The same politicians who only yesterday >criticized Daer are now trying to arrive at an agreemente with him. >We warn these politicians not to be confused. Daer represents >nobody,and we are already representing the Argentinian workers. We >have been meeting with businessmen and with the Church (ah, these >Peronists drive me mad, but on this occasion the Church may even play >a positive role!), we have a program to quit the currency board >scheme, we offer this plan to the government", and he finished with >an emotive quotation of Perón: "Who wants to hear me, hear me; who >wants to follow me, follow me; my cause is the cause of the people, >and my flag is the flag of the homeland". > >I confess that this sounded like honey to me. Peronism may be dead, >but the Argentinian workers are beginning to get on the move again. >Of course, they begin from where they last were. > >History makes no leaps. But these unruly Argentinian workers, dark >skinned, curly haired, mischievous staring, sweating and roaring, >with their drums, marches and banners, are always fearful. Even now, >when their numbers have fallen below the 1,000,000 people mark. The >working class is still central to this formation. That is why the >whole establishment met with the Quislings of Daer in order to >support them this very morning. But a beacon has clearly emerged. The >workers will begin to shift towards its light, and faster than many >imagine. > >The leaders of the working class have assumed a political role. >Probably they do not know themselves to which limit will they have to >go, if they want to keep true to the workers they are proud to >represent. But the fact is that, probably for the first time since >June 27, 1975, Argentinian labour has given a firm step ahead. > >In a sense, at the same time that Menemism dies in the general >political scenario, Menemism dies in the political horizon of the >labour movement. > >Enterrémoslo, y pesada les sea la tierra sobre la tumba. > > > > > >Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
