Just over a month after taking office in Argentina, the right-wing president Javier Milei yesterday faced a half-day general strike, which began at noon, in rejection of the decree addressed to the unions, as as well as economic and labor reform proposals.
Argentina's largest union, known by the acronym CGT, organized the strike and was joined by other unions. Social organizations and political opponents – including members of the Peronist party, which has dominated national politics for decades – also joined in and took to the streets of the capital, Buenos Aires, and other cities in the country.
Until the presidential bid, Milei was known mainly for televised speeches against the political caste, and won last year by a wide margin. He promised a drastic reduction in state spending aimed at shoring up a wide fiscal deficit that he says is fueling red-hot inflation, ending 2023 at 211 percent.
On December 20, Milei issued a decree revoking or amending more than 300 existing laws to limit the power of unions and deregulate an economy characterized by notoriously heavy state intervention. He also sent to Congress a so-called general bill to enact radical reforms in the political, social, fiscal, legal, administrative and security fields.
Yesterday's Wednesday was the first general strike in Argentina in more than four years, and also the fastest organized at the start of a presidential term since the return of democracy in 1983, according to local media Infobae. Javier Milei's predecessor, centre-left Alberto Fernández, did not have to deal with any general strike.
Milei won the second round with 56% and in his inaugural speech told Argentina that things would get worse before they got better. Two polls taken this month show he maintains the support of more than half of respondents, despite accelerating inflation and mass layoffs announced at state-owned companies.
The Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, yesterday accused the organizers of the strike of being "mobsters" bent on preventing the change that the Argentines chose in the November vote and told X, formerly Twitter, that the strike would not stop the progress of the Administration. His spokesman, Manuel Adorni, stated yesterday in a press conference: "You cannot dialogue with people who try to slow down the country and show an almost anti-democratic side". "We come to defend 40 years of democracy, to defend the homeland", said the co-leader of the CGT, Héctor Daer, to the crowd yesterday.
The Government of Milei has also warned in recent days that the demonstrators would be prevented from the traditional practice of blocking roads and would be subject to arrests, just like in a demonstration held in December.
Banks, gas stations, public administration, public health officials and garbage collection were operating on a limited basis at the start of the shutdown at noon. Public transport workers were due to go on strike at 7pm in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, but planned to operate normally during the day to facilitate protesters' access to and from the square in front of Congress.
Milei's decree restricted the right to strike for essential workers in hospital services, education and transport and created new compensation mechanisms to facilitate the dismissal of employees. It also allowed workers to pay private health care providers directly, rather than channeling those resources through unions, thereby depleting an important source of revenue.
Javier Milei has said that the proposed general bill will create the basis for economic stability and growth, curb inflation and reduce poverty, which afflicts four out of ten Argentines. The content of the bill is being negotiated in the Lower House and a vote is expected this week.
