>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >The Miami Herald February >23, 2000 > >NATIONAL STRIKE LOOMING IN ARGENTINA > > Talks fail to avert protest > > By Richard Jarvie, Bloomberg News > >Buenos Aires -- Argentine unions will hold a nationwide strike >Thursday after talks with government officials failed to narrow >differences over plans to overhaul labor legislation. > Unions are protesting a pro-business bill that makes it easier to >hire and fire workers and reduces the role of national unions in labor >bargaining. Congress will start to debate the bill on Thursday. > ìThere will be massive support for the rally,î said Rodolfo Daer, >leader of Argentinaís main union umbrella group, after talks with >government officials ended Tuesday morning. > The strike is seen as a test for Argentinaís labor movement, >which lost much of its power under the 10-year rule of former >President Carlos Menem and is now flexing its muscles against the >two-month-old government of President Fernando de la Rua. > De la Rua, elected on an alliance ticket, is a member of the >Radical Party, which faced 13 national strikes and almost continuous >conflict with the labor unions when it ruled Argentina between 1983 >and 1989. > Daer, who heads the General Labor Confederation, said the >governmentís plans would lead to lower salaries for workers and >expects wide support for the protest. > Others doubt the level of support. A poll by political analyst >Ricardo Rouvier shows 64 percent of the 900 people surveyed were >against the strike and 18 percent supported it. The survey has a 3 >percent margin of error. > While the strike is expected to be backed by members of the >militant transport workers union, many of the countryís main >industrial companies are unlikely to be affected. > Carmaker Fiat SpA, textile company Alpargatas Saic and >steelmaker Acindar Industria Argentina de Aceros, for instance, are >among companies that have agreed on new contracts with their work >force in recent years. > ìThe strike is not going to affect our operations,î said Alberto >Uhart, spokesman for Acindar. > ìItís common for companies such as ours to set up an agreement >with our workers that governs these types of strikes,î he said > The new labor law would increase the probationary period for >new workers and cut severance pay requirements. It also >decentralizes collective bargaining, allowing businesses and local >union shops to negotiate independently of the national union. > Daer wants the national unions to be able to set the parameters >for local agreements. > > >Louis Proyect >Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org/ > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
