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4 May, 2009
An ICEM mission to Argentina has gained first-hand accounts on how the global recession has affected the South American country, as well as laying the groundwork for ICEM’s 2011 Congress in Buenos Aires. ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda met the GUF’s Argentine affiliates on 29 April in an exchange of views on the economic collapse, and also met with non-affiliated trade unions on the crisis and their plans to affiliate.
A decision on the location for the Fifth World Congress will be taken at the ICEM Executive Committee meetings, 23-24 June in Geneva. Argentina trade union affiliates are enthusiastic on hosting the Congress.
Warda, along with ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Contact Person Carol Bruce, met with the Rubber Workers’ Union of Argentina, SUTNA, as well with the Energy and Oil Workers’ union, FeTERA, and the private-sector Oil and Gas Workers’ Union, FASPyGP. The ICEM delegation also met with Unión Obrero Metalúrgical (UOM), which is interested in joining ICEM on behalf of nuclear workers that the union represents, as well as with trade unions affiliated with the national centre Central de Trabajores de la Argentina (CTA) on joining the ICEM.
Bruce participated in two manifestations while in Argentina. On 22 April, she marched with the CTA in which the national centre’s secretary-general, Hugo Yasky, called for a 180-day moratorium in Argentina on job layoffs and an emergency outlay of state money to cover lost wages of workers.
On 30 April, she marched with the other major labour centre, Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), in its support of the government of Cristina Kirchner in late June elections, and against neo-liberal policies that created the crisis and job losses, estimated to be some 50,000 in Argentina.
The ICEM mission was supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Germany, which also provided a presentation on the impact of the economic crisis in Argentina.