The Autonomous CTA (CTA-A) began an action plan on Tuesday with a mobilization towards the Coordinator of the Food Products Industries (Copal), to denounce “the responsibility of the business sector in the face of inflation” and protest against the “new cuts ” of beneficiaries of the Potenciar Trabajo program.
“If there is someone responsible for the uncontrolled inflationary situation, it is the food business sector. The price makers in Argentina are mainly transnational companies and they do not comply with the agreements they sign with the Government,” said the general secretary of the CTA- A, Hugo “Cachorro” Godoy, at a press conference.
In addition, the trade unionist confirmed to Télam that the mobilization began from Copal, located at 25 de Mayo 516, towards the Ministry of National Labor on Avenida Leandro N. Alem.
“If there is someone responsible for the uncontrolled inflationary situation, it is the food business sector. The price makers in Argentina are mainly transnational companies and they do not comply with the agreements they sign with the Government”
“The Secretary of Labor (Claudio Bellotti) will receive us and we will present him with a document demanding an emergency increase for formal and informal workers, the immediate convening of the Vital and Mobile Minimum Wage Council and a universal basic salary to guarantee a flat minimum income so that no one suffers from hunger,” Godoy said in statements to this agency.
There has been economic growth for more than two years but the rates of poverty and indigence have worsened. That is why from the CTA we started a fight plan. pic.twitter.com/daj3lKkwst
— Hugo Cachorro Godoy (@CachorroGodoy) March 7, 2023
In this sense, he informed that they will later deliver this same document to the Ministry of Economy, located at Avenida Hipólito Yrigoyen 250.
The trade unionist pointed out that the Government “must understand” that “it is not possible to continue with the plan of the Fund”, by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“He has to take measures to curb inflation and to improve the income of the popular sectors. We want universal wages and parity without a roof, that’s why we mobilize,” he said.
He also warned during the conference that Argentina “has grown between 2021 and 2022, but at the same time poverty and hunger have grown,” noting that a group from the National Territorial Federation (FeNaT) addressed the Social Development portfolio.
“More than 100,000 benefits have been cut from Empower Work and new cuts are underway while food shipments are not met,” he added during the conference. The demonstrators will go through the Labor and Economy ministries, where they will leave documents and requests for a hearing.
women’s strike
The CTA-A reported that it will also participate in the mobilization on March 8 for International Women’s Day and will call a “women’s strike.”
“It is a day of struggle to defend all the rights we have won and claim those we lack,” said the CTA-A Gender Secretary, Leonor Cruz, who invited “all women and diversities” to gather on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. on Avenida de Mayo and Salta.
In addition to protesting that “children and women” are the sectors “most affected” by current economic events, the union will also request the release of “the Mapuche sisters and Milagro Sala.”
“It is important to return to commemorate and be on the streets with other sister, union, political and social organizations,” he added.
Finally, Godoy warned Télam that “the fight plan is beginning” and that if there is no response in the next few days “new forceful measures will be reiterated.”
“The measures are going to go in crescendo, the Government has to meet the popular demands,” he concluded.
