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21 March, 2025Affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union from across Latin America have expressed their strong support for workers in Argentina in light of the policies being introduced by Javier Milei's government. These policies will have an impact on workers both in Argentina and across Latin America and the world.
More than 70 leaders from IndustriALL’s affiliates from across Latin America and the Caribbean held an online meeting on 18 March to show their solidarity with Argentinean workers and discuss how to stand up against this model of government and the harmful policies that administrations like Milei's seek to impose.
The meeting began with an update from union members in Argentina. Héctor de Laplace from IndustriALL affiliate AOMA provided an overview of the policies, laws and decrees that are affecting the lives of Argentineans, making conditions more precarious for them and endangering the future of manufacturing in the country. Workers from the region then expressed their support and solidarity.
IndustriALL vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean Lucineide Varjão said:
"What’s happening in Argentina is very sad. We now need to step up our fight for labour rights and strengthen international alliances,” she said. She also reiterated the need for unions to stand united and fight against reforms aimed at dismantling the rights of the working class."
IndustriALL's co-chair for the region, María Soledad Calle, underscored the threat posed by the far right both in the region and worldwide:
"These movements aren’t looking to solve our problems – they want to suppress the working class through labour and pension reforms that just make people’s lives more precarious. Our struggle is not just against the government. It’s against a global economic model that’s endangering workers’ fundamental rights.”
IndustriALL deputy general secretary Kemal Özkan also expressed his support for Argentina’s workers, adding that Milei's policies have driven thousands of workers into poverty, undermined the collective bargaining process and eroded labour rights:
"At IndustriALL, we stand in solidarity with our affiliates and the broader union movement in Argentina in their struggle to protect democracy and to fight against the Milei government’s extreme economic policies. The measures being implemented are harming the country’s workers and are also impacting the global economic model."
He added that these decisions would bring more inequality, more poverty and more unemployment and reduce workers’ quality of life.
Delegates agreed that the situation in Argentina is part of a wider struggle:
“We must continue to stand together in solidarity. The struggle of Argentina’s workers is one we must all be part of,”
said a representative of the Los Mineros union, an IndustriALL affiliate in Mexico.
Edson Bicalho, who is general secretary of IndustriALL’s Brazilian affiliate FEQUIMFAR and a regional member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, proposed that the regional trade union movement should draw up a statement – to be submitted to both the government and the media – in which it takes a stand against the policies of the Argentinean government, the violence committed during demonstrations and the erosion of workers' rights.
Despite the repression, Argentinean unions indicated that they are ready to fight back. Pedro Wasiejko, general secretary of IndustriALL affiliate FETIA and a regional member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, said:
“We’re not afraid of government repression, but we must act responsibly when we take to the streets.”
Wasiejko said that Argentina had always had a budding manufacturing sector with full employment and that the country’s next progressive government needed to take up the workers’ plight, focusing on ensuring development in the manufacturing sector.
Delegates said that there needed to be a clear and unified strategy for how to fight back. Alejandra Angriman, a regional member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee and union representative from Argentina, said it was necessary to continue implementing the trade union action plan approved at the committee meeting in May 2024 in response to the Milei government’s attacks on workers.
Those present ended the meeting by agreeing that workers around the world needed to come together to counter the growing threat that the far right posed to democracy, human rights and labour rights. Unions needed to be united and organized at the national, regional and global levels in order to ward off these attacks and ensure a fairer future for generations to come.
Lastly, IndustriALL regional secretary Marino Vani said:
“This meeting to show solidarity with workers in Argentina is part of IndustriALL's plan of action. It has been a great display of the commitment, solidarity and unity among the region’s unions. At IndustriALL, we will continue to work with affiliates in Argentina, the region and worldwide to condemn the attacks on workers in Argentina. Our fight goes on!”