The block of Councilors of the Front of All (FdT) of Lanús denounced that the secretary of Culture and Creative Development, Thelma Vivoni, was planning a trip to Paris to participate in an art exhibition with resources from the commune, and They described this initiative as “an obscene expense” in a context where municipal workers receive “poverty wages” and there are cutouts for local artists.
On Friday, the mayor of Lanús, Néstor Grindetti, decided to issue a decree to limit spending and travel abroad for all government officials of this populous party in the southern area of the Buenos Aires suburbs.
The councilors, neighbors and union leaders carried out mobilizations and protests last week, demanding that the communal Executive redirect the resources that the municipality allocates to the different areas of the administration.
In this context, the opposition mayors presented a request for reports to the Municipality on Friday to request that “the reasons of interest” be explained for which the official’s trip was going to be financed and also asked that the issue be dealt with on tables in a body session.
“We consider this expense obscene, while municipal workers are in conflict for receiving wages below the poverty line”the FdT councilors wrote in a statement.
They also expressed their concern about the different cultural spaces in the city that “are abandoned and underfunded by the Executive” rejecting the fact that in the meantime “an excursion to an official” is paid and they demanded a reorientation of cultural resources.
The project could not be discussed because it was rejected by the ruling party and the votes obtained were not enough to approve its treatment, so it was awaiting a new session.
That same day, Grindetti signed a decree and consequently the resolution that enabled the financing of Vivoni’s trip to Paris, for which more than two million pesos were going to be spent, was annulled.
Sources from the opposition bloc indicated that the official was going to travel accompanied by the plastic artist Diego Real to participate in the third edition of the “Lanús travels to Paris” program..
Through this initiative, the Secretary of Culture of Lanús holds a painting contest and the winner is awarded the opportunity to exhibit their work in the “Art Shopping 2022” that takes place in the Carrousel of the Louvre Museum, in Paris. , France.
The reception of works concludes on August 21, however, it was never contemplated that the distinguished artist would travel to Paris, which for the councilors of the FdT makes the financing of an exclusive trip for officials even more questionable.
“The strength of the workers made Grindetti review this decision. There was a reaction from the people led by the unions against the municipality and the mayor approved paying a higher percentage (of salary increase) and not discounting the days of unemployment. In addition, they suspended all trips abroad,” councilor and trade union leader Víctor De Gennaro told Télam.
Meanwhile, the historic leader of the Association of State Workers (ATE) argued that the proposal that the winners not travel and only officials benefit was “really unusual.”
“It was nonsense, especially in the midst of the adjustment that this management applies throughout the municipality. We hope that the mayor’s decree is fulfilled. We will be attentive,” stressed one of the founders of the CTA.
The Decree 3133/22 signed by Grindetti stipulated a series of measures to limit public spending, among which are the increase in the political staff, the “small cash”, representation expenses, trips abroad and the purchase of vehicles for the municipal secretaries.
In addition, it was agreed with the unions to advance the 8% increase from September to August and a new increase of the same percentage was agreed for the lower income categories and the return of the discount for the strike carried out on June 7 last.
For their part, sources from the municipality explained to Télam that “in no way” does this Decree constitute a response to the demands of the workers, but is part of “a series of fiscal relief measures for merchants, SMEs and industrialists” of the district .
“Any commercial authorization regime will also be facilitated, something similar to what was done in Tres de Febrero. In the Municipality there are other trips that will also be suspended, such as the one organized by the Secretary of Economic Development abroad with commercial missions,” they detailed.
Likewise, he confirmed that the winning work of the program “Lanús travels to Paris” will be sent to France, where officials or those close to Grindetti’s management will not travel with the resources of the Municipality.
