The Autonomous CTA, together with organizations such as the UTEP, the MTE, La Poderosa and the Darío Santillán Front, among others, held a National Day of Struggle with actions throughout the country and a central event at the Pueyrredón Bridge.
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More than 60 rallies, assemblies, and mobilizations were held throughout the national territory to demand a Universal Basic Wage to end hunger in Argentina; an emergency salary increase for active and passive workers and a bonus for those who can promote work.
“This unity that we unions, social movements, cooperatives express here, is the perfect expression that in the face of the crisis that neoliberal politics has brought us, it is going to be reversed with a lot of unity, a lot of struggle, protests and proposals to demonstrate that it is possible to build a different alternative”, said Cachorro Godoy, Deputy Secretary of the Central when opening the unitary act in the Pureyrredón Bridge.
The leader also welcomed the presence of National Deputy Natalia Saracho, who recently presented the universal salary bill in the National Congress. “The colleagues and cooperatives, from the picnic areas and dining rooms, from the recovered factories, have work and develop it, but the income generated in the social and popular economy and in self-employment is not enough to get out of hunger. Even 60% of those who still have employment with an agreement are below the poverty level. With employment or without employment, with stability or precariousness, we have to unite more every day,” said Godoy.
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And he denounced the growing gap between “the productivity that generates profits for the financial groups is increasingly far from the salary of the workers.” He finally reaffirmed: “Unity of proposal and unity of organization so that the government is encouraged and trusts that people that took it to where it is and gets rid of the impositions of the IMF.”
Then, the national leader of the Darío Santillán Front, also Deputy Secretary of the UTEP, Dina Sánchez, spoke: “With the pandemic, they began to talk about the universal salary and many politicians talk about it, but nobody picks up the pen. That is why we were in the neighborhoods with the neighbors holding assemblies. It was important that they hear from our voice what the Universal Wage proposal is about. Compañeras compañeras, it is important that the universal salary be carried out, because it is a human right that guarantees food, especially for many compañeras. We get tired of hearing that this is not the time, that there is no money, that debt and the markets must be prioritized, and from this day on we ask them to change the recipes because otherwise we will continue in the same way».
In his turn, Nacho Levy, from the Garganta Poderosa added: “take note of the diversity of flags and organizations that we find in the street because the universal salary is a salary that we have been demanding for years. There are compañeros and compañeras who are missing, because here Ramona should be screaming, and coco and thousands of compañeros and compañeras who guaranteed food to the people, as the markets never did. We were going to come out better, and this is the moment to come out better. Now that reality overflows the streets, we have to come out better”.
Juan Marino spoke on behalf of the Piquetero Party: «We salute this enormous national day of struggle. In Argentina there is a social crisis, the situation is very serious, the price of food does not stop rising every day. We demand a universal basic salary now. The right wants to take over the government to attack the organizations and the mobilization, to cut rights, that is why they are persecuting social and popular leaders, with raids, violating constitutional rights.”
The Secretary of Social Welfare of the Central, Olivia Ruiz, took the demand of the passive workers: «we retirees support the claim of a universal salary for all the people because we know what it is to have income below the line of poverty. What we need is a moratorium by law, and as long as there is no registered work, we are going to continue fighting for decent retirement, tied to active workers. We need all of you to make meat because more than half of the retirees in this country, of which we are 8 million, have salaries that are not enough to fill the pot.
Juan Grabois, leader of the MTE, pointed out: «The problem of politicians is not our problem now. The persecution suffered by social leaders is not the main problem either. The biggest problem is the misery that exists in this country, and the political leaders are the ones who today have to worry about our problem, about the embarrassing figures of poverty and indigence that our country has. People’s problems are not being solved. When they persecute us, what they want is to change the axis of the discussion and put the organizations to defend themselves, and we do not need to defend ourselves from anything because we know what we do every day, that we are workers and that we fight.
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Leonor Cruz, Secretary of Gender of the CTAA Tucumán and national gender reference of FeNaT, remarked: “we workers know that unity is not decreed, it is built, and we must celebrate being in the street that we came out convinced and convinced that this is not enough. From the neighborhoods we come to say that this is not enough, we are the ones who sustain life in each dining room, in each picnic area. We sustain life and give dignity. Hunger is a crime for our boys and girls. 7 out of 10 die of hunger in a rich Argentina, but they are taken between three or four. We discuss the distribution of wealth in Argentina for those who have less. This is the organized people, we are the working class organized from the neighborhood and the Central”.
Pedro, National Coordinator for the December 19 Front at UTEP, closed by saying: “they want us to believe that the workers in the informal economy are to blame for inflation, they want us to believe that we are guilty of the price of the dollar, that we are guilty of having created our own way of working. I have seen many more colleagues from all over the country generating work, because what we do when the State is not there is to organize ourselves.”
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