One of the three leaders of Argentina’s main trade union organization, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT by its Spanish acronym), resigned on Friday amid disagreements on how to deal with the Milei administration. Pablo Moyano, also the head of the powerful truckers’ union, quit his post after the two other CGT leaders snubbed his claim for a national strike in December.

“I have decided to resign as Co-Secretary General of the General Confederation of Labor, as I do not agree with the decisions taken by the so-called ‘top leaders’,” he wrote in a letter.

Earlier this week, CGT leaders Héctor Daer and Carlos Acuña — who favor dialogue with the government — managed to impose their view and call off a proposal for a nationwide strike. The protest pitched by Moyano would have been the third general strike since Javier Milei took office.

On Monday, Moyano said that the CGT was undergoing “an important debate” and that the workers’ movement should “be on the streets to resist and denounce this economic model that is harming Argentines.” 

“We cannot look away,” he said in a radio interview.

Tensions between Moyano and Daer and Acuña — heads of the health workers and gas station employees unions, respectively — have been escalating in the previous months. 

In September, Daer and Acuña met in the presidential palace with Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos, Labor Secretary Julio Cordero, and presidential advisor Santiago Caputo. According to the government’s communiqué, they spoke about the CGT’s participation in the government-convened May Council and a much-resisted labor reform the administration is pushing for. They also agreed to form a three-party roundtable including the government, the CGT, and several businesspeople.

Moyano’s defection seems a victory for the government, which seems to have placated protests in some sectors amid a division in the workers’ movement. On October 30, a grouping of the main transportation unions carried out a 24-hour national strike affecting trains, planes, and ships across the country, as well as the Buenos Aires City subway. However, the bus driver union UTA, which had announced another separate strike, swiftly canceled after a meeting with government representatives.

Last week, after months of airport strikes, leaders of the three main unions that group workers of flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas reached an agreement with company management regarding wage increases and union benefits.

However, not all sectors have called a ceasefire. The State Workers Association (ATE) announced a 24-hour strike on December 5. The workers will also march in rejection of salary cuts and other austerity measures.