Now they have abandoned the fight of the retirees

Once again, the role of the country’s main labor union was shameful. After the latest repression of retirees, a major mobilization was organized this Wednesday to support their fight and protest against the presidential veto. Outside, thousands began to arrive at the Plaza Congreso, despite the unions’ refusal to call a general strike to ensure that the mobilization would be even more massive. Inside, an infamous show with deputies sold to the highest bidder and who turned around to guarantee the veto of the meager increase in pensions.

The elimination of the CGT is one of the most striking facts of the day. Daer and the majority of the union refused to take part in the mobilisation, leaving the fight for pensions on the sidelines. Many statements, few measures that are up to the attack on those who have worked all their lives and today have to choose between eating or buying medicines because they earn a pittance.

“No more cuts for those who have less” was all Héctor Daer tweeted from the comfort of his armchair, while thousands protested in the streets despite the huge police operation and the CGT’s erasure. “There is a tactical decision not to participate institutionally in Wednesday’s march” Andrés Rodríguez, head of UPCN and deputy general secretary of the CGT, had said a few days ago. An open betrayal that cannot be reversed with declarations or statements, and which plays a fundamental role in Milei’s crusade against pensions.

Retirement is a social right that must guarantee a dignified old age to fellow workers who contributed to the development of the country. The veto only serves to curtail this right and deepens the loss of purchasing power of our retirees. No more… pic.twitter.com/VK12ngfRhO

— Héctor Daer (@hectordaer) September 11, 2024

The other part of the CGT, headed by Corriente Federal, Bancarios, Satsaid and Camioneros, promised to be present this Wednesday in Plaza Congreso, although they refused to call a strike in their unions and limited themselves to mobilizing mostly their delegates and leaders.

Truckers and Moyanist unions march along Av. Entre Ríos towards the Congress area pic.twitter.com/52eXVRDyxe

— The Left Daily (@izquierdadiario) September 11, 2024

As if it were a carbon copy of what happened on June 12 when the Ley Bases was approved, where they withdrew in the middle of the session, weakening the struggle and facilitating police repression, they left again before the Chamber of Deputies voted and ratified the presidential veto.

Pablo Moyano’s Truck Drivers’ Union, which participated with a modest column compared to its forces, did not even reach the plaza and remained on Av. Entre Ríos for the entire day. After 3 p.m., when there were only a few minutes left before the speakers inside the building finished and the voting began, it made the political decision to withdraw.

This is how part of the column of truck drivers marched down Av. Entre Ríos, minutes before the vote in the House of Representatives. A modest mobilization without a strike that did not even reach the Plaza Congreso and that left before everything was over. pic.twitter.com/FcRfylfN62

— Juan Manuel Astiazarán (@juanmastiazaran) September 11, 2024

The weakness of the Government is evident. The undemocratic presidential veto could only be sustained by corruption, the distribution of posts and negotiations so that many deputies would change their vote and not support the project that had been approved only three months before. Milei was saved by the “rats”, the caste that he said he had come to fight. In the midst of this weakness, the collaboration of the union leaders is invaluable.

Today’s mobilization was not only important, but it also showed that a national strike would have been much more massive. The bureaucracies know this and that is why they avoid it, trying to keep the protest from getting out of control and using their firepower to serve their 2025 electoral strategy, refusing to seriously confront the government’s attacks.

The tactical victory of the Government on Wednesday is far from being the end of this fight. If anything has been demonstrated, it is the majority’s rejection of the presidential decision and the demonstration that pensions are a sensitive issue for the vast majority of the population. Far from resigning, pensioners have shown their will to continue fighting for a fair and urgent claim. That is why it is necessary to redouble the demands on the trade unions and fight to impose a national strike with mobilization. Only in this way, with thousands in the streets, will it be possible to end the austerity measures against the elderly and all the attacks of this Government against those who live from their work. Everything else is just a staging that is functional to Milei’s Government.