Accessibility links

Breaking News

Argentina Labor Unions Protest Job Losses, Macri Policies


A man holds a sign that reads in Spanish "Macri stop it" during a protest in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 22, 2017.
A man holds a sign that reads in Spanish "Macri stop it" during a protest in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 22, 2017.

Argentina's main labor unions took to the streets of the capital on Tuesday demanding more jobs and protesting center-right President Mauricio Macri's economic policies.

Tens of thousands of workers gathered in the historic Plaza de Mayo criticizing Macri, who is trying to lower labor costs to attract investment and jump-start an economy that emerged from recession in the second half of last year.

"If some retrograde [in the government] thinks that lowering wages, precarious living conditions and destroying trade unions is going to line up investments ... we say that is very wrong," said Juan Carlos Schmid, a leader of Argentina's largest umbrella union, the CGT.

Workers march toward Plaza de Mayo with a flag that reads in Spanish "Worker" in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 22, 2017.
Workers march toward Plaza de Mayo with a flag that reads in Spanish "Worker" in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 22, 2017.

Standing on a podium at the protest, he said the CGT would meet in late September to discuss a potential strike.

Macri told Reuters in an interview this month his government was negotiating labor agreements sector by sector rather than trying to pass a comprehensive labor reform like the one approved in neighboring Brazil.

Unions fear more drastic changes could be coming after mid-term legislative elections in October, however, especially after a primary vote on Aug. 13 pointed to strong support for Macri's coalition.

Macri is trying to open Argentina's long protected economy and focus on competitive industries like oil and agriculture, but has seen some manufacturing jobs lost in the meantime.

The most recent employment data showed the jobless rate rose to 9.2 percent in the first quarter of the year from 7.6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG