This Friday, April 29, the PIT-CNT held a press conference to report on the details of the central act of International Workers’ Day, which will be commemorated on Sunday, May 1.
The following participated in the press conference: Elbia Pereira, general secretary of the PIT-CNT; the vice president of the trade union center, José Lorenzo López, and the person in charge of press and propaganda, Gabriel Molina.
Pereira said that May 1 is extremely important for workers, but also for society as a whole. “We haven’t had a face-to-face May 1 for two years, for this reason this will be very emotional.”
In Montevideo there will be three caravans that will have as their starting point the plazas: Huelga General, Colón and Lafone, where there will be locomotion. The caravans will converge at the Legislative Palace and then reach the podium that will be located on Avenida del Libertador and Valparaíso.
The speakers will be: the general secretary, Elbia Pereira; Fernanda Aguirre, from the Human Rights Secretariat, and the president of the trade union center, Marcelo Abdala. Then there will be a musical closing by Los Salados.
Against hunger and famine
The act of May 1 will be under the slogan: “For the unity of those who move the wheel. Against hunger and famine. For work, for salary and in defense of social security”.
The union central questioned the decision of the Executive Branch not to enable the PIT-CNT to run the national radio and television network. They indicated that it has been a constant of the government to deny the possibility of the chain every time there is an important date for the world of work.
Through the oratory on May 1st, the PIT-CNT will claim that the workers are part of the machinery that makes the wheel that is the economy turn. “We will claim the unity of the class, to be able to continue pushing the wheel”.
Likewise, the PIT-CNT will review the recent referendum against 135 articles of the Law of Urgent Consideration and its consequences. “Although we did not achieve the objective, we were very close and that generated a cumulative experience of militancy that has not been seen for a long time. We want to thank all the militancy in charge of that feat that was getting the signatures and being close to achieving the goal,” said López.
Another aspect that will be included in the claim platform refers to the fact that Uruguay experienced a complex situation due to the pandemic, but the economy has been recovering to levels similar to the pre-pandemic and with an expectation of growth; however, the accumulation of wealth continues to generate a gap of more inequality. “Of those 100,000 new poor that were generated in the pandemic we still have 66,000, and of them 30% are children and adolescents.”
Regarding the salary aspect, López said that although the announcements of the Executive Power referring to an increase of 3% for passivities and 2% for civil servants can be seen with good eyes, “they are still insufficient due to the situation that the country”.
Likewise, the workers’ union will express its differences regarding how collective bargaining is being processed by the Executive Power.
The social security reform will also be present in the oratory part, as will the claim for memory, truth and justice for the detainees who disappeared during the dictatorship.
