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The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) sends unwavering solidarity to transport workers striking in Argentina today.
The strikers and their unions are protesting President Javier Milei's vicious attacks on workers - his austerity measures, attack on right to strike and anti-union policies.
In a flagrant bid to pander to big businesses by offering tax breaks for investors, Milei and his government are attempting to privatise and remove state subsidies to Argentina’s national airline, Aerolíneas Argentinas.
The government has attacked transport workers’ fundamental labour rights using a presidential decree to control aviation workers’ right to strike, whilst essential services laws will restrict the right to take industrial action.
ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton said the ITF is standing with workers in Argentina and will not accept continued attacks on human and labour rights: "We have strongly condemned Milei's administration since the beginning of his tenure, and we will continue to fight together with all transport unions to ensure that working conditions, decent work and the right to organise and collectively bargain are respected."
In 2023, Milei announced the Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU), which represses the universal rights of trade unions to defend human and labour rights. The DNU criminalises union activism, protest and industrial action, which will have a devastating impact on workers’ rights, employment conditions and undermine workers' safety if left unchallenged.
Transport unions have responded with national strikes and legal action against the anti-labour laws contained in the DNU. This has led to various false charges against union leaders, mainly from aviation and urban transport unions.
This general strike has gathered momentum, gaining support from both the Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers (CATT) and the General Union of Transport Workers' Associations (UGATT).
Edgar Diaz, ITF Regional Secretary for Latin America, said: "It has been a constant struggle against the Milei government's attacks on transport workers. We will not leave our affiliates to stand alone - the unions of this region have a duty to fight this to the end. "
Notes:
The initiative for this national strike was taken by the following ITF affiliates: Asociación Argentina de Aeronavegantes (AAA); Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Camioneros y Obreros del Transporte Automotor de Cargas, Logística y Servicios (Camioneros); Asociación de Pilotos de Líneas Aéreas (APLA); La Fraternidad; Sindicato de Obreros Marítimos Unidos (SOMU); and unions represented by the Federación Marítima Portuaria y de la Industria Naval (FEMPINRA), who established a National Transport Board to defend labour rights and the rejection of any regulation of the right to strike.
At ITF’s Congress in Marrakech earlier this month, an emergency motion was passed by delegates, who unanimously pledged support for aviation workers in Argentina under direct attack by Milei.
Photo by Matias Baglietto/NurPhoto