Argentina unions threaten more strikes against high taxes

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina

Labor unions will carry out more strikes after a 24-hour walkout Tuesday, if the government doesn’t heed their demand for less tax pressure, a union leader said Monday.

“The measures of force are going to increase if (the government) continues with the provocations and without giving us a response to our demands,” trucker union boss Pablo Moyano said on Radio La Red.

Moyano’s truckers and about 20 other unions will walk off the job Tuesday, bringing to a halt banks, public transport, rubbish collection and other services.

They want the government to raise the minimum threshold for paying income taxes. With inflation running at 35 percent annual many workers have seen their salaries rise above this threshold to expose them to taxes they previously didn’t pay and strip them of social welfare benefits such as child subsidies.

He said that of the 220,000 truckers in his union, 80 percent pay income taxes.

Moyano spoke a day after Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said the minimum income tax threshold was “at a very good level” and that he believes the strike is politically motivated.

A presidential election will be held Oct. 25 and the ruling party of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, that cannot run for a third consecutive term, is facing a potential loss to more conservative parties.

In response to Kicillof, Moyano said he wants talks with the government, but added that he doubts “they will accept or listen to a legitimate demand.”

The government has said that by easing income tax pressure on workers, this could increase the informal economy and harm public finances.

Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez said Monday in a televised press conference that he would meet with transport companies later in the day to discuss ways to provide services during the strike.

“There are many people who want to work and if they are deprived of transport then they cannot work,” Fernandez said.