[News] Unions Bring Argentina to a Standstill As Macri Meets Bankers

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Argentina-Central-Bank-Chief-Resigns-Amid-National-Strike-20180925-0001.html 
<https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Unions-Bring-Argentina-to-a-Standstill-As-Macri-Meets-Bankers-20180925-0002.html> 



  Unions Bring Argentina to a Standstill As Macri Meets Bankers

25 September 2018
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On Tuesday at midnight, Argentina’s General Confederation of Workers 
(CGT) began its 24-hour general strike against Mauricio Macri’s 
austerity policies. On Monday, the Argentine Workers’ Central Union 
(CTA) launched a parallel 36-hour strike with the support of several 
smaller unions, neighborhood associations, and social movements to 
reject the government’s social and economic policies.

    */RELATED:
    Argentina's Unions Begin National Strikes Against Macri’s Austerity
    <https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Argentinas-Largest-Labor-Union-Begins-36-Hour-Strike-Against-Macris-Austerity-20180924-0009.html>/*

Macri has faced massive protests and four national strikes. In June, 
shortly after the government agreed on a US$50 billion emergency loan 
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the CGT and several other 
unions paralyzed the country to reject the agreement and the austerity 
measures that accompany IMF loans.

The strike organizers succeeded, with images showing a desolate Buenos 
Aires and paralyzed country. On Tuesday morning the streets were empty, 
train and bus stations were closed and most flights to and from Ezeiza 
and Jorge Newbery airports were canceled. Public schools have suspended 
classes, public hospitals are only receiving medical emergencies, and 
banks will not open their doors.

"Either this economic model falls or these people leave the government," 
Pablo Micheli of the CTA said Monday.

Campesinos are also participating in the protests. "The Campesinos 
struggle against the neoliberal austerity of the Cembiemos government. 
#GetOutIMF #GeneralStrike #EnoughHunger #PopularAgrarianReform 
#WorkersUnity," the Union of Landless Rural Workers - Via Campesina 
tweeted.

Argentina’s workers are demanding collective bargaining that corresponds 
to the loss of purchasing power due to increasing inflation, the 
suspension of layoffs 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Over-4000-Layoffs-a-Month-in-2018-in-Argentina-Report-20180712-0014.html>, 
and the declaration of a food emergency to counter the effects of the 
economic crisis.

They also want to stop the approval process for the 2019 national 
budget, which according to them would deepen social austerity.

We need “a change in course,” Hector Daer, a member of the CGT’s 
Directive Council argued, saying the government needs to correct its 
current economic policy. Macri “must understand that he doesn’t only 
need to be accountable and bear good news for financial speculators and 
IMF authorities,” Daer told local media outlet Pagina 12.

On Monday, CTA's Hugo Yasky warned they will "remain in the street until 
they change the economic policy, layoffs stop, and our rights are 
recognized." He also criticized president Macri, saying "his knees must 
be numb, we are standing while he kneels before the IMF."

In New York, Monday, Macri confirmed he will seek re-election next year. 
The announcement was made during a lunch meeting with representatives of 
Citi Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, and UBS. Macri also met 
Donald Trump during a cocktail he threw for allies who attended the 
United Nations General Assembly, he dined with IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

The Argentine government is in the middle of negotiations with the IMF 
for an extension of the US$50 billion emergency loan despite the fact 
that the president is being prosecuted 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Argentina-Macri-Faces-Prosecution-Over-IMF-Deal-20180905-0005.html> 
over the IMF deal.

As Argentines protest Macri's austerity measures, the Washinton 
D.C.-based think-tank Atlantic Council celebrated Macri and awarded him 
with the Global Citizen award for his "tireless dedication" and 
"commitment to economic reform and revitalization and renovation to 
relations with international partners."

As part of Macri's participation in the U.N. General Assembly, he is 
scheduled to hold a meeting with recently-elected Cuban President Miguel 
Diaz Canel, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

On Tuesday, the president of Argentina's Central Bank, Luis Caputo, 
resigned 
<http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Argentina-Macri-Faces-Prosecution-Over-IMF-Deal-20180905-0005.html> 
from his post. He is the second person to resign from this post during 
Macri's presidency.

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