.gif)
General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
Encyclopedia
The General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic (in Spanish
: Confederación General del Trabajo de la República Argentina, CGT) is a national trade union centre of Argentina
founded on September 27, 1930, as the result of the merge of the USA (Unión Sindical Argentina) and the COA (Confederación Obrera Argentina) trade union centres. Nearly Two out of three unionized workers in Argentina belong to the CGT, and it is one of the largest trade union
s in the world.
The CGT was founded on 27 September 1930, the result of an agreement between Socialists and Revolutionary Syndicalists, to which the Communists later joined themselves, leading to the merge between the Unión Sindical Argentina (USA), which had succeeded to the FORA IX
(Argentine Regional Workers' Federation of the IXth Congress), and the Confederación Obrera Argentina (COA).
During the Infamous Decade
of the 1930s and subsequent industrial development, the CGT began to form itself as a strong union, competing with the historical anarchist FORA V
(Argentine Regional Workers' Federation of the Vth Congress). The CGT was then mainly present in the railroad industry (in particular in the Unión Ferroviaria and La Fraternidad). It was headed by José Domenech (Unión Ferroviaria), Ángel Borlenghi
(Confederación General de Empleados de Comercio) and Francisco Pérez Leirós (Unión de Obreros Municipales). CGT became the Argentine affiliate of the International Federation of Trade Unions
(an organization that both USA and COA had been members of for shorter periods).
The CGT split in 1935 over a conflict between Socialists and Revolutionary Syndicalists, leading to the creation of the CGT-Independencia (Socialists & Communists) and the CGT-Catamarca (Revolutionary Syndicalists). The latter re-founded, in 1937, the Unión Sindical Argentina. However, in 1942 the CGT again split, into the CGT n°1, headed by the Socialist railroader José Domenech and opposed to Communism, and the CGT n°2, also headed by a Socialist (Pérez Leirós), which gathered Communist unions (construction, meat, graphism) and some important Socialist unions (such as the retail workers' union led by Borlenghi and the municipal workers' union led by Pérez Leirós).
, its leaders embraced the pro-working class policies of the Labour Minister, Col. Juan Domingo Perón. Again the CGT was unified, due to the incorporation of many unionists who were members of the CGT n°2, dissolved in 1943 by the military government.
When Perón was separated from the government and confined on Martín García Island
, the CGT called for a major popular demonstration
at the Plaza de Mayo
, on 17 October 1945, succeeding in releasing Perón from prison and in the call for elections. Founding on the same day the Labour Party
(Partido Laborista), the CGT was one of the main support of Perón during the February 1946 elections
. In 1947, the Labour Party merged into the Peronist Party. Afterwards, the CGT became one of the strongest arms of the Peronist Movement, and the only trade union centre recognised by Perón's government. Two CGT delegates, the Socialist Ángel Borlenghi
and Juan Atilio Bramuglia
were nominated Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs, respectively. Colonel Domingo Mercante
, who was perhaps the military officer with the closest ties to labor, was elected Governor of Buenos Aires (a key constituency).
The number of unionized workers grew markedly during the Perón years, from 1 million to 6 million (all belonging to the one of the CGT's 2,500 affiliated unions). His administration also enacted or significantly extended numerous landmark social reforms supported by the CGT, including: minimum wage
s; labor court
s; collective bargaining
rights; improvements in housing, health and education; social insurance; pensions; economic policies which encouraged import substitution industrialization; growth in real wage
s of up to 50%; and an increased share of employees in national income from 45% to a record 58%.
military coup in 1955, which ousted Perón and outlawed Peronism, the CGT was banned from politics and its leadership replaced with government appointees. In response, the CGT began a destabilisation campaign to end Perón's proscription and to obtain his return from exile. Amid ongoing strikes over both declining real wages and political repression, AOT textile workers' leader Andrés Framini
andPresident Arturo Frondizi
negotiated an end to six years of forced government receivership
over the CGT in 1961. This concession, as well as the lifting of the Peronists' electoral ban in 1962, led to Frondizi's overthrow, however. During the 1960s, the leaders of the CGT attempted to create a "Peronism without Perón" - that is, a form of Peronism that retained the populist
ideals set forth by Juan Perón, but rejected the personality cult that had developed around him in the 1940s and 1950s. The chief exponents of this strategy were the Unión Popular
, founded by former Foreign Minister Juan Atilio Bramuglia
(who, as chief counsel for the Unión Ferroviaria rail workers' union, had a key role in forming the alliance between labor and Perón), and UOM steelworkers' leader Augusto Vandor
, who endorsed the CGT's active participation in elections against Perón's wishes and became the key figure in this latter movement. Vandor and Perón both supported President Arturo Illia's overthrow in 1966, but failed to reach an agreement with dictator Juan Carlos Onganía
afterward.
In 1968, the CGT divided itself into the CGT-Azopardo, which gathered proponents of collaboration with the military junta (also named "participationists", they included the general secretary of the CGT Augusto Vandor
, as well as José Alonso
and the future general secretary of the CGT-Azopardo José Ignacio Rucci
), and the CGTA
(CGT de los Argentinos), a more radical union headed by the graphist Raimundo Ongaro
. The CGTA, which also included the Córdoba
Light and Power Workers' leader Agustín Tosco
, notably participated to the Cordobazo
uprising in 1969, during which it called for a general strike. The military junta then jailed most of its members, who were also close to the Grupo Cine Liberación
film movement and the Movimiento de Sacerdotes para el Tercer Mundo, a group of priests close to the Liberation Theology
.
Following the failure of a 120 days strike at the Fabril Financiera, and the reconciliation between Augusto Vandor
, leader of the "participationists", with Juan Perón
, the CGTA witnessed many of its unions joining the "62 Organizations," the Peronist political front of the CGT. Perón and his delegate, Jorge Paladino, followed a cautious line of opposition to the military junta, criticizing with moderation the neoliberal policies of the junta but waiting for discontent inside the government.
Despite this, in 1969, the CGTA still boasted 286,184 members, while the Nueva Corriente de Opinión (or Participationism), headed by José Alonso
and Rogelio Coria boasted 596,863 members and the CGT Azopardo, headed by Vandor, boasted 770,085 members and the majority in the Confederal Congress.
, at the CGT's leading power-broker. He leveraged his influence to advance a rival within the UOM, José Ignacio Rucci
, as the new Secretary General of the CGT. The pragmatic Miguel thus turned a rival into an ally, while impeding the more combative Light and Power workers' leader, Agustín Tosco
, from rising to the powerful post.
Rucci maintained good relations with the dictatorship and earned the aging Perón's friendship. The next years were blemished by often bloody internal disputes and the fight against the leftist Montoneros
, however, and in September 1973, a commando killed Secretary-General Rucci. The Montoneros, who neither claimed responsibility nor denied it, were accused of Rucci's death, and the event triggered an escalating conflict between left and right-wing Peronists spearheaded by the Montoneros and the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, respectively.
(ICFTU) opposed to Communism.
Following the March 1976 coup, 10,000 factory delegates, on a total of 100,000, were arrested.
During the Dirty War
of the second half of the 1970s, many of the CGT's leaders and activists disappeared. At first temporarily suspended, the CGT was then dissolved by the junta
. Despite having been outlawed, the trade unions reorganized themselves into two factions, one supporting frontal opposition to the dictatorship, and called first "the 25" then the CGT-Brasil, led by Saúl Ubaldini
, and the other supporting negotiation with the military, named at first CNT and then CGT-Azopardo (led by Jorge Triaca). Both the CGT-Brasil and the CGT-Azopardo were named after the streets on which the headquarters were located. The CGT-Azopardo negotiated with the military dictatorship the control of the medical-care health-insurance organisations (obras sociales).
On 27 April 1979, "the 25" proclaimed the first of a series of general strikes against the dictatorship. In November 1980, despite their being proscribed, they re-formed the CGT, thereafter known as CGT-Brasil, and on 7 November 1980, the latter called forth the first open demonstration against the junta. The grievances were topped by both repression and by the policies of Economy Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
, who had enacted repeated wage freezes and free trade
policies and had presided over declines in real wages and industrial output which particularly impacted the CGT. Amid a sharp recession, on 30 March 1982, tens of thousands responded to its call to demonstrate in favour of democracy on Plaza de Mayo, in Buenos Aires, and in other cities throughout the country. Thousands were subsequently detained, and two days later, greatly weakened, the military junta began the Falklands War
, in an attempt to bolster nationalism feelings and unite the country behind its rule.
After the Falklands War
, Raúl Alfonsín
denounced the association between Labour and the junta, criticizing a "military-labour pact". After his election as President of Argentina in 1983, he failed on passing through the Senate a new law regulating trade unions and guaranteeing freedom of association. In his negotiations with the CGT, Alfonsín conceded the position of Minister of Labour to CGT man Hugo Barrionuevo.
Under Saúl Ubaldini
's guidance, the CGT launched 13 general strike
s during Alfonsín's government. In 1989, with an hyperinflation
corroding the economy, the CGT introduced a 26-point programme to support Carlos Menem
's bid to the Presidency, including measures such as declaring a unilateral external debt
default
. Justicialist candidate Carlos Menem
won the 1989 elections
on a populist campaign platform, but entrusted the Ministry of Economy to the Bunge y Born
company, a major agribusiness
firm. This turn led to a rupture within the CGT in late 1989, though following a 1991 conference in which concern over new Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo
's free-market policies ruled the agenda, the CGT was reunited under an agreement to keep the union in a stance of conditional support for the measures, which had already been reigniting economic growth. The intransigent Ubaldini was replaced by Light and Power Workers' leader Oscar Lescano.
The move caused some dissent, however, and led to the establishment of the Central de Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA), led by Víctor de Gennaro, and to the development of a dissident faction led by Truckers' Union leader Hugo Moyano
, the MTA. Menem's ample victories in the 1991 mid-term elections gave momentum to his agenda of labour reforms, many of which included restricting overtime pay and easing indemnifications for layoffs, for instance. Under pressure from the rank-and-file, Lescano called for a general strike late in 1992 (the first during the Menem tenure). Increasingly marginalized within the Justicialist Party
, however, he resigned the following May in favor of Steelworkers' leader Naldo Brunelli.
The CGT endorsed Menem's 1995 re-election campaign; but following a sharp recession, the CGT, CTA and MTA reacted jointly in mid-1996 with two general strikes against the government's neoliberal
policies, whose emphasis on free trade and sharp productivity gains they believed responsible for the highest unemployment rates since the great depression. Aside from these shows of force, the CGT, led by Construction Workers' leader Gerardo Martínez, remained conciliatory with the anti-labour Menem for the sake of the Justicialist Party
. The party's defeats in the 1997 mid-term elections bode poorly for their chances in 1999 (elections they went on to lose).
Moyano's rapproachment with the CGT was again strained in the year 2000, when President Fernando de la Rúa
's plans to make Argentina's labour laws more flexible distanced him from the CGT leadership led by Rodolfo Daer, whose conciliatory stance led to a "Rebel" CGT led by Julio Piumato. The collapse of de la Rúa's government in late 2001 made way for the parliamentary selection of former Buenos Aires Province
Governor Eduardo Duhalde
, whose alliance to MTA leader Hugo Moyano helped lead to the gathering of much of what remained of the CGT under his leadership. The reunited CGT elected Moyano Secretary General in 2004. Benefiting from a close alliance with the administrations of Néstor
and Cristina Kirchner, Moyano has leveraged his capacity as head of the Council on Salaries (an officially-sanctioned advisory board) to secure a stronger collective bargaining position and frequent increases in the minimum wage.
In recent years, and in spite its strength as the only labour representative in many forums, the CGT has faced growing opposition from other trade unions, such as the CTA, or the left-leaning grassroots organisations of unemployed people known as Piquetero
s (Picketing Men), groups first in evidence during the Menem years which have since become tenuously allied with the Kirchner administrations.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Confederación General del Trabajo de la República Argentina, CGT) is a national trade union centre of Argentina
Trade unions in Argentina
Trade unions in Argentina have traditionally played a strong role in the politics of the nation. The largest trade union association, the Confederación General del Trabajo has been a force since the 1930s, and approximately 40% of workers in the formal economy are unionized.- The FORA :The...
founded on September 27, 1930, as the result of the merge of the USA (Unión Sindical Argentina) and the COA (Confederación Obrera Argentina) trade union centres. Nearly Two out of three unionized workers in Argentina belong to the CGT, and it is one of the largest trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s in the world.
The CGT during the Infamous Decade
Argentine Regional Workers' Federation
The Argentine Regional Workers' Federation , founded in 1901, was Argentina's first national labor confederation...
(Argentine Regional Workers' Federation of the IXth Congress), and the Confederación Obrera Argentina (COA).
During the Infamous Decade
Infamous Decade
The Infamous Decade in Argentina is the name given to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état against President Hipólito Yrigoyen by José Félix Uriburu...
of the 1930s and subsequent industrial development, the CGT began to form itself as a strong union, competing with the historical anarchist FORA V
Argentine Regional Workers' Federation
The Argentine Regional Workers' Federation , founded in 1901, was Argentina's first national labor confederation...
(Argentine Regional Workers' Federation of the Vth Congress). The CGT was then mainly present in the railroad industry (in particular in the Unión Ferroviaria and La Fraternidad). It was headed by José Domenech (Unión Ferroviaria), Ángel Borlenghi
Ángel Borlenghi
Ángel Borlenghi was an Argentine labor leader and politician closely associated with the Peronist movement.-Early life and the labor movement:Ángel Gabriel Borlenghi was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants, in 1904...
(Confederación General de Empleados de Comercio) and Francisco Pérez Leirós (Unión de Obreros Municipales). CGT became the Argentine affiliate of the International Federation of Trade Unions
International Federation of Trade Unions
The International Federation of Trade Unions was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU....
(an organization that both USA and COA had been members of for shorter periods).
The CGT split in 1935 over a conflict between Socialists and Revolutionary Syndicalists, leading to the creation of the CGT-Independencia (Socialists & Communists) and the CGT-Catamarca (Revolutionary Syndicalists). The latter re-founded, in 1937, the Unión Sindical Argentina. However, in 1942 the CGT again split, into the CGT n°1, headed by the Socialist railroader José Domenech and opposed to Communism, and the CGT n°2, also headed by a Socialist (Pérez Leirós), which gathered Communist unions (construction, meat, graphism) and some important Socialist unions (such as the retail workers' union led by Borlenghi and the municipal workers' union led by Pérez Leirós).
The CGT following the "Revolution of '43"
After the coup d'état of 1943Revolution of '43
The 1943 Argentine coup d'état was a Coup d'état on June 4, 1943 which ended the government of Ramón Castillo, who had been fraudulently elected to office, as part of the period known as the Infamous Decade...
, its leaders embraced the pro-working class policies of the Labour Minister, Col. Juan Domingo Perón. Again the CGT was unified, due to the incorporation of many unionists who were members of the CGT n°2, dissolved in 1943 by the military government.
When Perón was separated from the government and confined on Martín García Island
Isla Martín García
Isla Martín García is an Argentine island off the Río de la Plata coast of Uruguay. The enclave island is within the boundaries of Uruguayan waters; in 1973 both countries reached an agreement establishing Martín García as an Argentine territory and also as a nature reserve.The island of has a...
, the CGT called for a major popular demonstration
Loyalty Day (Argentina)
The Loyalty Day is a commemoration day in Argentina. It remembers October 17, 1945, when a massive labour demonstration at the Plaza de Mayo demanded the liberation of Juan Perón, who was jailed in Martín García island...
at the Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
, on 17 October 1945, succeeding in releasing Perón from prison and in the call for elections. Founding on the same day the Labour Party
Labour Party (Argentina)
The Labour Party was a political party in Argentina. The party was founded by Peronist trade union leaders at the end of October 1945. The party organization was built up around the Peronist unions, and most of its representatives in different elected offices had been recruited from the ranks of...
(Partido Laborista), the CGT was one of the main support of Perón during the February 1946 elections
Argentine general election, 1946
The Argentine general election of 1946, the last for which only men were enfranchised, was held on 24 February. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 83.4%, it produced the following results:-President:aAbstentions....
. In 1947, the Labour Party merged into the Peronist Party. Afterwards, the CGT became one of the strongest arms of the Peronist Movement, and the only trade union centre recognised by Perón's government. Two CGT delegates, the Socialist Ángel Borlenghi
Ángel Borlenghi
Ángel Borlenghi was an Argentine labor leader and politician closely associated with the Peronist movement.-Early life and the labor movement:Ángel Gabriel Borlenghi was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants, in 1904...
and Juan Atilio Bramuglia
Juan Atilio Bramuglia
Juan Atilio Bramuglia was an Argentine labor lawyer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the administration of President Juan Perón.-Early life and career:...
were nominated Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs, respectively. Colonel Domingo Mercante
Domingo Mercante
Domingo Mercante was an Argentine military officer and prominent Peronist political figure.-Life and times:...
, who was perhaps the military officer with the closest ties to labor, was elected Governor of Buenos Aires (a key constituency).
The number of unionized workers grew markedly during the Perón years, from 1 million to 6 million (all belonging to the one of the CGT's 2,500 affiliated unions). His administration also enacted or significantly extended numerous landmark social reforms supported by the CGT, including: minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
s; labor court
Labor court
A labor court is a governmental judiciary body which rules on labor or employment-related matters and disputes. In a number of countries, labor cases are often taken to separate national labor high courts...
s; collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
rights; improvements in housing, health and education; social insurance; pensions; economic policies which encouraged import substitution industrialization; growth in real wage
Real wage
The term real wages refers to wages that have been adjusted for inflation. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Real wages provide a clearer representation of an individual's wages....
s of up to 50%; and an increased share of employees in national income from 45% to a record 58%.
From the 1950s to the 1980s democratic transition
After the Revolución LibertadoraRevolución Libertadora
The Revolución Libertadora was a military uprising that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on September 16, 1955.-History:...
military coup in 1955, which ousted Perón and outlawed Peronism, the CGT was banned from politics and its leadership replaced with government appointees. In response, the CGT began a destabilisation campaign to end Perón's proscription and to obtain his return from exile. Amid ongoing strikes over both declining real wages and political repression, AOT textile workers' leader Andrés Framini
Andrés Framini
Andrés Framini was an Argentine labor leader and politician.-Early career:Andrés Framini was born in the working-class La Plata suburb of Berisso, in 1914. He entered the labor force as a peon in one of Buenos Aires' many textile manufacturers, eventually working for the important Piccaluga...
andPresident Arturo Frondizi
Arturo Frondizi
Arturo Frondizi Ercoli was the President of Argentina between May 1, 1958, and March 29, 1962, for the Intransigent Radical Civic Union.-Early life:Frondizi was born in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes Province...
negotiated an end to six years of forced government receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
over the CGT in 1961. This concession, as well as the lifting of the Peronists' electoral ban in 1962, led to Frondizi's overthrow, however. During the 1960s, the leaders of the CGT attempted to create a "Peronism without Perón" - that is, a form of Peronism that retained the populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
ideals set forth by Juan Perón, but rejected the personality cult that had developed around him in the 1940s and 1950s. The chief exponents of this strategy were the Unión Popular
Unión Popular
Unión Popular is a political party in Argentina rooted in Peronism. Established by Juan Atilio Bramuglia as both a contingency for Peronists displaced by the 1955 military coup against the populist President Juan Perón, it became a "neo-Peronist" alternative to the exiled leader's line, and...
, founded by former Foreign Minister Juan Atilio Bramuglia
Juan Atilio Bramuglia
Juan Atilio Bramuglia was an Argentine labor lawyer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the administration of President Juan Perón.-Early life and career:...
(who, as chief counsel for the Unión Ferroviaria rail workers' union, had a key role in forming the alliance between labor and Perón), and UOM steelworkers' leader Augusto Vandor
Augusto Vandor
Augusto Timoteo Vandor was an Argentine trade unionist leader, military and politician.-Career:Vandor was born Bovril, Entre Ríos Province, to a Dutch father and a French mother, in 1923. He enlisted in the Argentine Navy in 1940, and later became an officer in the ARA Comodoro Py warship...
, who endorsed the CGT's active participation in elections against Perón's wishes and became the key figure in this latter movement. Vandor and Perón both supported President Arturo Illia's overthrow in 1966, but failed to reach an agreement with dictator Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía
Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo was de facto president of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as military dictator after toppling, in a coup d’état self-named Revolución Argentina , the democratically elected president Arturo Illia .-Economic and social...
afterward.
The 1968 split between the CGT-Azopardo and the CGT de los Argentinos
Augusto Vandor
Augusto Timoteo Vandor was an Argentine trade unionist leader, military and politician.-Career:Vandor was born Bovril, Entre Ríos Province, to a Dutch father and a French mother, in 1923. He enlisted in the Argentine Navy in 1940, and later became an officer in the ARA Comodoro Py warship...
, as well as José Alonso
José Alonso (trade unionist)
José Alonso was an Argentine politician and trade-unionist.- Early life :José Alonso was born in the Montserrat section of Buenos Aires, in 1917. The son of a Spanish tailor, he dedicated himself to the same profession, and was first elected as a union delegate of the tailors in 1938...
and the future general secretary of the CGT-Azopardo José Ignacio Rucci
José Ignacio Rucci
José Ignacio Rucci was an Argentine politician and union leader, appointed general secretary of the CGT in 1970...
), and the CGTA
CGTA
The CGTA was an off-shoot of the General Confederation of Labour created during the Normalisation Congress of the CGT of 28–30 March 1968, and which lasted until 1972....
(CGT de los Argentinos), a more radical union headed by the graphist Raimundo Ongaro
Raimundo Ongaro
Raimundo Ongaro is a prominent Argentine labor leader.-Early career and rise to prominence:Raimundo José Ongaro was born to a middle-class family of Italian Argentines from the Lombardy region, in the Argentine seashore city of Mar del Plata in 1924...
. The CGTA, which also included the Córdoba
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
Light and Power Workers' leader Agustín Tosco
Agustín Tosco
Agustín Gringo Tosco was an Argentine union leader, member of the CGT de los Argentinos and an important participant in the historic local uprising known as the Cordobazo.-Thought and maturity:At 27 years old, he was the general secretary for Luz y Fuerza...
, notably participated to the Cordobazo
Cordobazo
The Cordobazo was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina, in the end of May 1969, during the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía, which occurred a few days after the Rosariazo, and a year after the French May '68...
uprising in 1969, during which it called for a general strike. The military junta then jailed most of its members, who were also close to the Grupo Cine Liberación
Grupo Cine Liberación
The Grupo Cine Liberación was an Argentine film movement that took place during the end of the sixties. It was founded by Fernando Solanas, Octavio Getino and Gerardo Vallejo...
film movement and the Movimiento de Sacerdotes para el Tercer Mundo, a group of priests close to the Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
.
Following the failure of a 120 days strike at the Fabril Financiera, and the reconciliation between Augusto Vandor
Augusto Vandor
Augusto Timoteo Vandor was an Argentine trade unionist leader, military and politician.-Career:Vandor was born Bovril, Entre Ríos Province, to a Dutch father and a French mother, in 1923. He enlisted in the Argentine Navy in 1940, and later became an officer in the ARA Comodoro Py warship...
, leader of the "participationists", with Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
, the CGTA witnessed many of its unions joining the "62 Organizations," the Peronist political front of the CGT. Perón and his delegate, Jorge Paladino, followed a cautious line of opposition to the military junta, criticizing with moderation the neoliberal policies of the junta but waiting for discontent inside the government.
Despite this, in 1969, the CGTA still boasted 286,184 members, while the Nueva Corriente de Opinión (or Participationism), headed by José Alonso
José Alonso (trade unionist)
José Alonso was an Argentine politician and trade-unionist.- Early life :José Alonso was born in the Montserrat section of Buenos Aires, in 1917. The son of a Spanish tailor, he dedicated himself to the same profession, and was first elected as a union delegate of the tailors in 1938...
and Rogelio Coria boasted 596,863 members and the CGT Azopardo, headed by Vandor, boasted 770,085 members and the majority in the Confederal Congress.
Assassinations of the leadership and conflict with the far left
The 1969 assassination of UOM Secretary General Augusto Vandor, and that of the CGT Secretary General, José Alonso, in 1970, created a power vacuum that left Vandor's conservative successor at the UOM, Lorenzo MiguelLorenzo Miguel
Lorenzo Miguel was a prominent Argentine labor leader closely associated with the steelworkers' union.-Early life and his rise in the UOM:...
, at the CGT's leading power-broker. He leveraged his influence to advance a rival within the UOM, José Ignacio Rucci
José Ignacio Rucci
José Ignacio Rucci was an Argentine politician and union leader, appointed general secretary of the CGT in 1970...
, as the new Secretary General of the CGT. The pragmatic Miguel thus turned a rival into an ally, while impeding the more combative Light and Power workers' leader, Agustín Tosco
Agustín Tosco
Agustín Gringo Tosco was an Argentine union leader, member of the CGT de los Argentinos and an important participant in the historic local uprising known as the Cordobazo.-Thought and maturity:At 27 years old, he was the general secretary for Luz y Fuerza...
, from rising to the powerful post.
Rucci maintained good relations with the dictatorship and earned the aging Perón's friendship. The next years were blemished by often bloody internal disputes and the fight against the leftist Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
, however, and in September 1973, a commando killed Secretary-General Rucci. The Montoneros, who neither claimed responsibility nor denied it, were accused of Rucci's death, and the event triggered an escalating conflict between left and right-wing Peronists spearheaded by the Montoneros and the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, respectively.
Dirty War
In 1975 the CGT affiliated itself with the International Confederation of Free Trade UnionsInternational Confederation of Free Trade Unions
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions , and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when it merged with the World Confederation of Labour to form the...
(ICFTU) opposed to Communism.
Following the March 1976 coup, 10,000 factory delegates, on a total of 100,000, were arrested.
During the Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
of the second half of the 1970s, many of the CGT's leaders and activists disappeared. At first temporarily suspended, the CGT was then dissolved by the junta
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
. Despite having been outlawed, the trade unions reorganized themselves into two factions, one supporting frontal opposition to the dictatorship, and called first "the 25" then the CGT-Brasil, led by Saúl Ubaldini
Saúl Ubaldini
Saúl Edólver Ubaldini was an Argentine labor leader and parliamentarian for the Peronist Justicialist Party....
, and the other supporting negotiation with the military, named at first CNT and then CGT-Azopardo (led by Jorge Triaca). Both the CGT-Brasil and the CGT-Azopardo were named after the streets on which the headquarters were located. The CGT-Azopardo negotiated with the military dictatorship the control of the medical-care health-insurance organisations (obras sociales).
On 27 April 1979, "the 25" proclaimed the first of a series of general strikes against the dictatorship. In November 1980, despite their being proscribed, they re-formed the CGT, thereafter known as CGT-Brasil, and on 7 November 1980, the latter called forth the first open demonstration against the junta. The grievances were topped by both repression and by the policies of Economy Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was an Argentine executive and policy maker. He served as Minister of the Economy under de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla between 1976 and 1981, and shaped economic policy during the self-styled National Reorganization Process military dictatorship.-Early...
, who had enacted repeated wage freezes and free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
policies and had presided over declines in real wages and industrial output which particularly impacted the CGT. Amid a sharp recession, on 30 March 1982, tens of thousands responded to its call to demonstrate in favour of democracy on Plaza de Mayo, in Buenos Aires, and in other cities throughout the country. Thousands were subsequently detained, and two days later, greatly weakened, the military junta began the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, in an attempt to bolster nationalism feelings and unite the country behind its rule.
The CGT since the return to democracy
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
denounced the association between Labour and the junta, criticizing a "military-labour pact". After his election as President of Argentina in 1983, he failed on passing through the Senate a new law regulating trade unions and guaranteeing freedom of association. In his negotiations with the CGT, Alfonsín conceded the position of Minister of Labour to CGT man Hugo Barrionuevo.
Under Saúl Ubaldini
Saúl Ubaldini
Saúl Edólver Ubaldini was an Argentine labor leader and parliamentarian for the Peronist Justicialist Party....
's guidance, the CGT launched 13 general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
s during Alfonsín's government. In 1989, with an hyperinflation
Hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...
corroding the economy, the CGT introduced a 26-point programme to support Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
's bid to the Presidency, including measures such as declaring a unilateral external debt
External debt
External debt is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country. The debtors can be the government, corporations or private households. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such...
default
Default (finance)
In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract, e.g. has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan covenant of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may occur if the debtor is either...
. Justicialist candidate Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
won the 1989 elections
Argentine general election, 1989
The Argentine general election of 1989 was held on 14 May. Voters chose both the President and their legislators and with a turnout of 85.3%, it produced the following results:-President:aAbstentions.-Argentine Congress:...
on a populist campaign platform, but entrusted the Ministry of Economy to the Bunge y Born
Bunge y Born
Bunge y Born was a multinational corporation based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose diverse interests included food processing and international trade in grains and oilseeds...
company, a major agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....
firm. This turn led to a rupture within the CGT in late 1989, though following a 1991 conference in which concern over new Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo
Domingo Cavallo
Domingo Felipe "Mingo" Cavallo is an Argentine economist and politician. He has a long history of public service and is known for implementing the Convertibilidad plan, which fixed the dollar-peso exchange rate at 1:1 between 1991 and 2001, which brought the Argentine inflation rate down from over...
's free-market policies ruled the agenda, the CGT was reunited under an agreement to keep the union in a stance of conditional support for the measures, which had already been reigniting economic growth. The intransigent Ubaldini was replaced by Light and Power Workers' leader Oscar Lescano.
Hugo Moyano
Hugo Moyano is an Argentine labor leader and Secretary General of the CGT, the nation's largest trade union.-Early life and career:...
, the MTA. Menem's ample victories in the 1991 mid-term elections gave momentum to his agenda of labour reforms, many of which included restricting overtime pay and easing indemnifications for layoffs, for instance. Under pressure from the rank-and-file, Lescano called for a general strike late in 1992 (the first during the Menem tenure). Increasingly marginalized within the Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
, however, he resigned the following May in favor of Steelworkers' leader Naldo Brunelli.
The CGT endorsed Menem's 1995 re-election campaign; but following a sharp recession, the CGT, CTA and MTA reacted jointly in mid-1996 with two general strikes against the government's neoliberal
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
policies, whose emphasis on free trade and sharp productivity gains they believed responsible for the highest unemployment rates since the great depression. Aside from these shows of force, the CGT, led by Construction Workers' leader Gerardo Martínez, remained conciliatory with the anti-labour Menem for the sake of the Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
. The party's defeats in the 1997 mid-term elections bode poorly for their chances in 1999 (elections they went on to lose).
Moyano's rapproachment with the CGT was again strained in the year 2000, when President Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
's plans to make Argentina's labour laws more flexible distanced him from the CGT leadership led by Rodolfo Daer, whose conciliatory stance led to a "Rebel" CGT led by Julio Piumato. The collapse of de la Rúa's government in late 2001 made way for the parliamentary selection of former Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
Governor Eduardo Duhalde
Eduardo Duhalde
-External links:...
, whose alliance to MTA leader Hugo Moyano helped lead to the gathering of much of what remained of the CGT under his leadership. The reunited CGT elected Moyano Secretary General in 2004. Benefiting from a close alliance with the administrations of Néstor
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
and Cristina Kirchner, Moyano has leveraged his capacity as head of the Council on Salaries (an officially-sanctioned advisory board) to secure a stronger collective bargaining position and frequent increases in the minimum wage.
In recent years, and in spite its strength as the only labour representative in many forums, the CGT has faced growing opposition from other trade unions, such as the CTA, or the left-leaning grassroots organisations of unemployed people known as Piquetero
Piquetero
A piquetero is a member of a political faction whose primary modus operandi is based in the piquete. The piquete is an action by which a group of people blocks a road or street with the purpose of demonstrating and calling attention over a particular issue or demand...
s (Picketing Men), groups first in evidence during the Menem years which have since become tenuously allied with the Kirchner administrations.
See also
- Trade unions in ArgentinaTrade unions in ArgentinaTrade unions in Argentina have traditionally played a strong role in the politics of the nation. The largest trade union association, the Confederación General del Trabajo has been a force since the 1930s, and approximately 40% of workers in the formal economy are unionized.- The FORA :The...
- Ángel BorlenghiÁngel BorlenghiÁngel Borlenghi was an Argentine labor leader and politician closely associated with the Peronist movement.-Early life and the labor movement:Ángel Gabriel Borlenghi was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants, in 1904...
- Juan Atilio BramugliaJuan Atilio BramugliaJuan Atilio Bramuglia was an Argentine labor lawyer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the administration of President Juan Perón.-Early life and career:...
- Juan PerónJuan PerónJuan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
- José Alonso (trade-unionist)
- Augusto VandorAugusto VandorAugusto Timoteo Vandor was an Argentine trade unionist leader, military and politician.-Career:Vandor was born Bovril, Entre Ríos Province, to a Dutch father and a French mother, in 1923. He enlisted in the Argentine Navy in 1940, and later became an officer in the ARA Comodoro Py warship...
- José Ignacio RucciJosé Ignacio RucciJosé Ignacio Rucci was an Argentine politician and union leader, appointed general secretary of the CGT in 1970...
- Hugo MoyanoHugo MoyanoHugo Moyano is an Argentine labor leader and Secretary General of the CGT, the nation's largest trade union.-Early life and career:...
External links
- Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Espanol - CGT. Original version in Spanish, released under GNU FDL.
- CGT official site