National Strike - Class is Cancelled

We received notification that class will be cancelled on Wednesday June 27th due to the potential risks associated with the national strike that is to occur here in Argentina.  I figured this would be a good time to relay information that I have understood up until this point.

Background
About a week ago Hugo Moyano called for a strike of fuel truckers.  President Cristina sent in military police and launched a criminal complaint over the strike.  These individuals blocked fuel depots and refineries, but then Moyano called off the strike when they were able to reach an agreement for a pay increase of 25.5% for the workers.  This may seem like a lot to workers in the United States, but the inflation here is about (depending on who you believe) 25% annually if I take the median of both the extremes I have been hearing.  The Economist has an article from February that has some interesting information and quotes inflation at about this, but I have heard statistics on the television news sources here that quote it as high as 1.8% every week.

Moyano and President Cristina

It should be noted that the President Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner has generally been seen as a supporter of unions and Moyano and Cristina were allies during her first term and his support did help her in achieving victory for her second term.

There have been many people who have questioned the motives of Moyano as political showmanship or a vendetta against Cristina and so the strike has not gained sweeping support throughout all sections of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) here.  Moyano is the Secretary General of the CGT, which is an umbrella that covers various groups.  A U.S. comparison would be like the AFL-CIO, but it's my interpretation that the CGT as a national organization has a little more influence over its member unions than the AFL-CIO in the United States.  The other large labor organization that covers mostly agricultural workers as opposed to industrial is the CTA here.

Planned Strike
Even though it appeared the Moyano received the pay increases that he was requesting for the oil workers he still called for a national strike of workers on Wednesday June 27th.  The CTA has announced that it will not be requesting that its workers participate is this strike and the leader of that union even stated in a release that one of the reasons for the lack of participation is that Moyano was against him during the 2008 farm crisis... so clearly there is history here.

We have been told that the subway and bus workers union will not be striking so it is likely that public transit will not be effected, but historically these things have a tendency to unfold the day of the protest.  In Buenos Aires, the workers may not be striking on your morning commute, but by lunch time they may join in and everything will just unexpectedly stop.  It does, however, appear that the airline workers will participate and thus flights intra/inter-country here will be effected and the university workers union (covering everyone but professors) will also be participating.

This strike will include workers throughout the city and provinces here, but it is really hard to tell how wide spread it will be.  We do know that Moyano has requested the workers organize a massive protest march to the Plaza de Mayo which is on my daily commute to class.  Local accounts have been estimating that this should take place around 2 or 3 p.m. but everyone agrees that the situation is unpredictable.

I am enrolled in the State Department's SMART traveler program and received the following official notification from them:


Security Message for U.S. Citizens - Call for National Strike
U.S. Embassy Buenos Aires, Argentina
June 26, 2012
Dear U.S. citizen,
The Argentine umbrella labor organization CGT has called for a national strike and demonstration march in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, June 27, and other labor groups are expected to join the strike.  The situation remains fluid, and the eventual dimension and details of the strike and demonstration remain uncertain at this time.
Some but not all elements of public transportation are expected to be affected, along with partial or complete work interruptions in
potentially many other sectors.
U.S. citizens are advised to exercise caution and maintain awareness of their surroundings.  As mentioned in the State Department's country specific information page for Argentina, demonstrations are common in metropolitan Buenos Aires and occur in other major cities as well.
Protesters on occasion block streets, highways, and major intersections, causing traffic jams and delaying travel. While demonstrations are
usually nonviolent, some individuals break from larger groups and sometimes seek confrontation with the police and vandalize private
property.  U.S. citizens should take common-sense precautions and avoid gatherings or any other event where crowds have congregated to protest; in this case, one can expect much of the "Microcentro" of Buenos Aires to be significantly affected.  Information about the location and other details of possible strike and/or demonstration activity is available from a variety of sources, including the local media.  Passengers on buses, trains, and the subway should also be aware that these forms of transport are sometimes interrupted by strikes or work stoppages. U.S. citizens living or traveling in Argentina are encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).  

We'll see how today goes and I will keep you updated on the situation,

Tim