BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
Labor unions threatened to follow up a massive strike Tuesday with another in April if the government doesn’t meet demands for reducing tax pressure.
“We are on track for a 36-hour strike,” said Luis Barrionuevo, head of a faction of the General Labor Confederation, the country’s largest labor umbrella group participating in the strike.
“We have spoken about it, and it is irreversible” he said on Radio Con Vos.
Labor tension is swelling in Argentina as 35 percent annual inflation makes it harder for workers to get by every month.
Members from more than 20 unions walked off the job Tuesday to put pressure on President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to raise the minimum threshold for paying income taxes. The fast pace of inflation has pushed many workers’ salaries above this threshold, slashing take-home pay and stripping many of social welfare benefits such as child subsidies even as consumer prices continue to rise.
Barrionuevo said participation in the strike “is total.”
In the streets of Buenos Aires, bikes, cars and taxis drove along streets normally clogged with buses, while subways and trains didn’t operate. Most workers stayed home even if they were not participating in the strike because they couldn’t get to their jobs, leading some cafes, restaurants and retailers to close shop.
The walkout has also shuttered banks, rubbish collection and other services, leaving the weekday streets looking more like a weekend.
This is the third general strike by the unions against the Fernandez de Kirchner government.
Despite this pressure, “there has been no response” from her administration, Barrionuevo said.
“What they have to do is give us an answer,” he added.
The government has lashed out at the striking unions, saying they are trying to weaken its political power ahead of a presidential election in October, with more conservative political parties faring better in the polls.
Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said Monday that only 6 – 8 percent of workers pay income taxes, meaning that raising the minimum threshold would help only those with higher incomes.
Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez said in a televised press conference Tuesday that the strike is “to defend the high salaries of other unions.”
Pablo Moyano, head of a leading truckers union, said the government has its numbers wrong.
“They don’t even know the quantity of workers,” Moyano said on Radio Con Vos. “Of the 220,000 workers in my union, 200,000 pay income taxes, and this is the same in most of the unions that have higher salaries.” He said. “Some 85 percent to 90 percent pay income taxes,” he added.
