With chainsaw in hand, Javier Milei, the new elected president, began to outline his policy of total adjustment and reform of the state. His fight “against the Caste” begins to take shape in layoffs of workers and wage freezes. He even mentioned on a TV channel that the payment of bonuses for the state employees was in jeopardy. For the chainsaw plan, one of the names in dance as an advisor to the new president is Roberto Dromi, one of those caste politicians like few others, who outlined the savage privatizations with thousands of layoffs in the Menem era and who later retrained alongside Julio De Vido with Kirchnerism. The specific plan is not known, but the state workers, amidst uncertainty, fear and anger on their first day of work after the holiday, began to organize and prepare the resistance, the slogan Not a worker on the street begins to take shape among the offices.
While the state agencies were transformed into places of deliberation to see how from this very moment they began to prepare resistance against the layoffs, the national leadership of UPCN put on cold clothes and promoted resignation. I have already declared the importance of “respect for the democratic process” and in some departments they have let it slip that they are preparing to negotiate layoffs with Milei. This attitude of a union that always acted as a supporter of the government in power is to be expected; this was the case in the face of Macri’s dismissals.
For its part, ATE Nacional held a closed-door meeting and declared itself in a state of alert and assembly. Although it anticipates a complex end of the year for the reality of thousands of state employees due to the signing of contracts, the announcements of concern and state of alert were limited to the call for a meeting for December 14 (!). The general secretary of ATE Rodolfo Aguiar stated “We are not going to move even one millimeter away from the mandate that the members gave us. Before leaving, the current government has to guarantee the increases committed for November and December. And to those who come, we want to tell them that we are going to defend with all our strength the jobs and public policies that we have achieved.”
An ATE Capital Plenary with more than 150 delegates
After Milei’s victory, on Monday the 20th, a plenary session of general delegates was held at ATE Capital with more than 150 participants. Daniel Catalano, general secretary, opened by stating that the union begins this new stage weakened by political differences but that “colleagues need the union to live up to what is coming.” The spirit of those present was to respond to the workers’ cry for unity and whoever doesn’t like it is screwed. In the same vein, he reported that he communicated with Pablo Spataro from the board of directors of ATE Nacional and highlighted the importance and centrality of “resolving everything that was left unresolved.” These divisions have nothing to do with how to best represent workers, but rather are internal due to different positions within pan-Peronism.
After reflecting on what the vote for Milei implies, as a far-right project, “I refuse to think that our citizens chose to accompany all the measures that Milei promised to do,” in reference to his privatization plans, and the cuts in education and public health, stated that Milei’s plan implies a reduction to eight ministries, and that there will probably be 40,000 layoffs in the state by the end of the year. However, he did not even make a self-criticism of the political subordination of the union to the Government of Alberto, Cristina and Sergio, leaving aside the workers’ claims. With his passivity he played a subsidiary role in the advancement of the right. A government that did not comply with the transfer to the plant of all those hired, a government that brought inflation to 140% with depressed salaries, a poverty of 43% where part of the precarious state employees are found, while these four years continued with the transfer of income to the most concentrated capitals, and therefore the growth of inequality.
Beyond the lack of common understanding and reorientation of the entire union to put it at the level of the attack to come, these resolutions came out of the plenary session: remain in a state of permanent alert, hold sectoral assemblies during this week, convene a general plenary session of delegates Monday 27th at 9am in the ATE Capital sectionwith a view to organizing an upcoming mobilization.
A first step to organize resistance to Milei’s plans
From the Marrón Clasista Group, our colleague Marcelo Gomez, from the GCBA Music Directorate, intervened, pointing out that this plenary session had to be a first step to organize resistance to Milei’s plans. He recalled that it is an instance to unify the delegates of CABA and the Nation at the level of the City, something that had been demanded from the left but never materialized by the direction of the section. He pointed out that the demobilization and passivization to which ATE Nacional and Ciudad adapted is part of the balance that explains the right-wing advance during these 4 years of subordination to the government of inflation, precariousness and low salaries dictated by the IMF and called to focus on develop an agitation campaign, organize assemblies and plenaries by sector to coordinate the resistance and the measures to be taken with all sectors threatened by the future LLA government, demanding unified measures from the CTA, UPCN, ATE Nacional and Sutecba to fight against the reform of the state. Finally, he demanded that the assemblies to be held and the march that was planned demand that the government of Alberto Férnandez, CFK and Sergio Massa be promoted to the plant by decree of the colleagues who competed and whose situation is not yet defined and an emergency salary increase for cope with the 40% increase in food that we suffered the day after the election.
We propose these guidelines to organize the resistance
From Marrón Clasista and La Izquierda Diario we call to organize the forces from below from now on, promoting assemblies, self-convening, self-organization processes and delegates by office and work sector, which unite members of any union and non-members, because in unity there is strength. At the same time boost coordinators of struggle with all sectors attacked by the new president, such as Aerolíneas aeronautics, telecommunications such as ARSAT, National Roads, press workers from public media, unemployed; Only a joint fight, putting the forces of the workers on their feet, can we stop the “forces of libertarian heaven.” Resignation is not an option. We make all our means available to counteract the official media that will attack and discredit us.. Let us show all the voices of those of us who are willing to fight against the new reactionary government and give publicity to all the movements, actions and measures of struggle of the state workers.
We have a first opportunity to join together with our demands for the march against sexist violence this November 25. The women’s movement won its rights in the streets and that is where it will defend them. As states we must join and I call on you to march with us and Pan y Rosas, because We do not want one more adjustment, nor one less right and let’s add Not a layoff.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
