Argentine workers on strike
May 29: Workers in Argentina took once again take to the streets for a 24-hours General Strike to demand the Mauricio Macri’s Government to urgently change its economic policy, due to various economic and social problems faced by the country as a result of the recession, currency devaluation and high inflation.
The decision comes just a day after representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) met with members of the Argentine trade union movement to review Government compliance with the agreement signed in May 2018, in which the Macri government requested a loan of 56,000 million dollars to counteract a serious fall of the Argentine peso.
"This force measure is a claim against these policies that impoverish Argentinean people. We want active policies to stop economic downturn and promote quality employment for our workers," said Gerardo Martínez, General Secretary of UOCRA, an affiliate of BWI in Argentina.
Since President Macri took office in 2015, it is estimated that 1,752,000 jobs have been lost (9.1 percent unemployment by 2018), inflation increased to 47.6 percent in 2018 (the highest in 27 years) and poverty rates have risen alarmingly up to 33.6 percent throughout the national territory, representing 13.2 million Argentines in poverty.