Mariano Martin 
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) decided on Thursday to begin petitioning injunctions before every available court against Javier Milei’s decree of necessity and urgency (DNU) which swept away a good portion of the current labor legislation. The starting point of the maneuver will be a march next Wednesday to the Justice Palace to challenge the decree. The next day, their highest deliberative and executive body, the Confederation’s Central Committee (CCC), will meet to determine a course of action that will include a potential nation-wide strike, which will not take place before February.
These were the final decisions of a CGT Board Meeting that included more than 50 unions at the headquarters of the Construction Workers Union (UOCRA). The Wednesday demonstration will be coordinated with the two existing CGT groups and the Popular Economy Workers Union (UTEP), a way to guarantee massive attendance. This will be the first large-scale challenge from unions to Patricia Bullrich’s anti-demonstration protocol. For the labor confederation, though, the decree will definitely come into force in January at the latest. By the time a potential court-ordered injunction is issued, the labor flexibilization effects will already have become palpable for legally registered workers.
At Thursday’s debate in UOCRA, only one union leader suggested a nation-wide strike for next week. It was Omar Maturano (from the train drivers union, The Fraternity), whose motto was “a punch must be answered with two punches.” Maturano, however, was held back by CGT Co-Secretary General Héctor Daer, who proposed combining his motion with the one that was finally agreed upon: a march on Wednesday and a committee meeting on Thursday. Every sector agreed, even those led by Pablo Moyano (Union Front) and Sergio Palazzo (Federal Trend), who had previously suggested immediate, direct action.
The CGT’s greatest expectations are placed on the legal strategy. To organize this, the confederation contacted their own lawyers as well as opposition figures like Ricardo Gil Lavedra. They will promote and shed light on both collective and individual injunction petitions against the DNU’s labor-related cores, as well as issues related to the repeal of the Rent Law, among other items. The presentations will be made before the Labor, Civilian and Commercial, and Administration Dispute courts, where they expect to get favorable rulings. An extended legal feud is expected for the summer. While they envision some DNU articles not being enforced due to injunctions, there are others that will come into effect.
At the same time, activism will be in order. “The CCC will decide on a strike that will probably be effective in February. Meanwhile, we’ll follow the results of the legal strategy. It will be a hard period, with a real wage loss of between 40 and 50 points due to inflation effects,” said Abel Furlán, secretary general of the Metal Workers Union (UOM).
The CGT’s internal debate was preceded by a meeting between its leaders and Unión por la Patria congress representatives. While they agreed on coordinating union and legal actions, sources within the CGT complained about Peronism’s seeming lack of strategy against Milei’s decree. They specifically blamed Máximo Kirchner, with whom the organization has fueded with since the Alberto Fernández administration.
Apart from the main labor confederation, the two factions of the Argentine Workers Central (CTA), called “Workers’ CTA” and “Autonomous CTA,” also met and decided to join the CGT demonstration in the Judicial Palace and march together with UTEP.
