CGT labour confederation leader Hugo Moyano.
As tensions between the CGT labour confederation and the National Government continue to rise, the organization’s leader Hugo Moyano once again targeted the Fernández de Kirchner administration over the lack of progress in the collective bargaining talks and warned that he hopes “they don’t push him into a general strike.”
The CGT leader asked for the Government to be “reasonable” during the collective bargaining process and expressed his support for the teachers’ unions in several Argentina provinces that are currently going on strike.
“There are many ways to negotiate a salary. We have to be reasonable but the Government also has to raise the income tax floor and raise the universal child allowance ceiling “so anyone making over 5,000 pesos can also qualify for it.”
Regarding the possibility of a general strike, Moyano replied that he expected he was not forced to reach that situation.
“I hope we don’t come to call for a general strike. Better said, I hope we’re not pushed to call for a general strike.”
“If the three parts in this discussion can agree then we can solve this situation,” he assured.
Moyano then said he supported the teachers’ unions who called for a strike this week after failed salary negotiations.
“Their demands are legitimate and they have our support,” he said.
He also questioned President Fernández de Kirchner’s statements towards teachers during the opening of the legislative year in Congress last Thursday.
“When I heard her, I was surprised. I said to myself: ‘this cannot be’” he said in reference to the moment when the President said that teachers “work four hours and enjoy a three-month vacation.”
“This is very different from what she used to think a few years ago,” he stressed.
buenosairesherald.com