As its board of directors meets, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) will call today for “a great political, economic and social consensus that promotes development, production and work as instruments that converge towards a horizon of growth with social justice”, while warning that “there is no more margin for economic deterioration without the risk of social decomposition”.

The CGT board of directors will convene today from 3 p.m. at its Azopardo 800 headquarters, after which it will issue a document calling for a consensus that “promotes development, production and work for national growth”.

In the text, CGT leaders Héctor Daer, Carlos Acuña and Pablo Moyano will warn that “Argentine society is going through a complex socioeconomic crisis, inherited and aggravated by a scenario of macroeconomic instability manifested through a growing inflationary escalation.

“This pulverizes the purchasing power of wages, causes shortage of foreign currency, labor informality and an increase in structural poverty, which has already reached 40%, which is unacceptable and condemns millions of Argentines to marginality and puts social cohesion at serious risk”, the CGT’s statement reads.

It also states that inflation and poverty indexes must top the list of issues that require urgent action, and that the entire leadership must become aware that “there is no more margin for economic deterioration without the risk of social decomposition”.

The CGT demands that an agreement be reached that will allow for the design of a medium and long term program.

“The short-term speculations of the pre-electoral phase should not postpone strategic agreements, in the context of a model of sustained and inclusive growth”, the text remarks.

It exhorts “all political leaders, without distinctions or differences between officialism and circumstantial oppositions” to “assume the commitment in the succession of recurrent crises that through the years have led the country to the current situation”.

“The socioeconomic context is so serious that it does not allow for personal or sectorial speculations. The crisis will be overcome with majority consensus and on the basis of State policies aimed at implementing the productive potential of the country”, emphasizes the document.

It also states that the CGT is willing to contribute to the construction of a broad agreement based on production and labor, for which it raises the need to reduce inflation rates.

The confederation will also demand the promotion of Argentine labor with value-added export policies; the strengthening of the health and social security systems; the promotion of upward social mobility and the fair redistribution of wealth to reverse income concentration and promote balance in the capital-labor relationship, and the recovery of Argentina’s economic independence.

“The CGT demands a greater commitment to corporate social responsibility from price makers; more participation of citizens in national affairs; the reconstruction of a State that promotes development, protects strategic resources and exploits wealth; care for the environment and the analysis of the changes in the labor world associated with information technologies, artificial intelligence and automation of productive processes, promoting dialogue among all”, it adds.

The Board of Directors will also analyze the possibility of organizing an event of all the affiliated unions to commemorate International Workers’ Day, on May 1 or 2, possibly at the stadium of the Defensores de Belgrano club in this capital city.

–Télam