The country’s main trade union centers have called for demonstrations this Thursday, May 9, against the austerity policy of the right-wing government and against the series of ultraliberal reforms currently under discussion in Parliament.
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“ No trains, very few buses, no metro and more than 400 flights canceled across the country. ” Therefore Théo Conscience, our correspondent in Buenos Aires, summarizes the second general strike in barely five months that Javier Milei is experiencing. The Constitucion station in Buenos Aires through which transit “ hundreds of thousands of people to go to work is emptynotes our correspondent. The unions did not call for demonstrations, and the strike slogan was particularly followed in the civil service and the banking sector. Most schools are closed. »
A slow day therefore, but not completely stopped. Seventy thousand passengers were affected, according to the Latin American Air Transport Association. But low-cost companies operated from Buenos Aires airport, notes Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In any case, this strike “ against a brutal adjustment, in defense of labor and union rights, and a decent salary », launched by several unions, seems much more followed than that of January 24 which lasted twelve hours. A semi-failure that the government did not fail to deride as the strike ” the fastest in history », announced in December, 18 days after Milei’s inauguration.
After the march in defense of the public university which brought together nearly a million people across the country end of April and the May Day demonstrations, this Thursday’s national strike is the third large-scale mobilization against the government of Javier Milei in less than three weeks.
A degraded social situation
This strike responds to the deterioration of the social situation in Argentina, notes our correspondent. The austerity shock decreed by the Argentine president plunged the country into recession, with a contraction in economic activity of 5.6% in February 2024.
At the same time, drastic cuts in public spending and the loss of purchasing power of wages in the face of inflation have driven more than three million Argentines into poverty, according to the Argentine Catholic University.
The slogan of this strike – “ Rights are defended ” And ” The homeland is not for sale » –, reflects the desire to put pressure on the senators who are currently examining the deregulatory reforms wanted by Javier Milei, and approved by the Chamber of Deputies at the end of April. An amended, narrowed and planed project, because Javier Milei has 37 deputies out of the 257 in the lower house of Congress.
These reforms provide in particular for the delegation of exceptional power to the executive for one year, the total or partial privatization of eleven public companies, a more flexible labor law and a tax reform, explains our correspondent.
Between 45 and 50% positive image for Javier Milei
This time again, the presidency denounced a strike “ strictly political » by unions which will “ against what people voted for five months ago “. “ This government has had more strikes than reforms, it’s quite extravagant », quipped the presidential spokesperson.
Despite a slight inflection in April, several recent polls see Javier Milei oscillating between 45 and 50% positive image – he was elected with 56%.
A form of spectacular stability for a ruler who in a few months inflicted “ the greatest adjustment in human history “, as Javier Milei likes to point out, between devaluation, freed prices, spending and public aid ” cut off “.