MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Organized labour ignores warnings and keeps pressure on Argentine president

Julio Piumato, CGT Human Rights secretary: “nobody commits suicide, much less the chief”

Argentina’s organized labour continued Monday with its aggressive offensive to have unionist included in the pro-ruling party’s ballot tickets for next October presidential election arguing that Argentines from all walks of life have been invited to participate in politics, ‘but not union members’.

“It seems like anyone can make politics in this country except for unionists. We’ve seen singer, actors, actresses, athletes, businessmen, house wives, bumps, pimps, judges, relatives of all kind, attorneys, priests, rabbis, writers, clowns, journalists, kidnappers, kidnapped ones, bribe-takers and those who bribe, but never unionists” said in a twitter message Julio Piumato head of the judicial employees union and Labour Confederation CGT Human Rights Secretary.

Furthermore, in another harsh comments tweet Piumato indicated “Politicians call us (unionists) when things get rough. That’s when we have to show up to expose our bodies, faces and balls. But we are not allowed to participate in politics; we cannot be part of it”.

Piumato is not another union leader, he is a close aid and advisor of organized labour chief Hugo Moyano who has been pressing President Cristina Fernandez to include unionists in the ballot tickets including his legal advisor and lawmaker Hector Recalde as Vice-president candidate.

Last week the Argentine president threatened not to bid for re-election if organized labour pressure on her administration does not cease. She accused the unions of acting in a “corporative manner”, with extortive methods appealing to stoppages and blockades that distort all activity selfishly ignoring the rest of the community.

But Mrs Kirchner also warned that “blackmailing and extortion” won’t turn her back.

Piumato was the first union leader to react to Mrs Kirchner’s strong statements last week and in a direct reply to her threat of stepping down from re-election, the union leader said “nobody commits suicide, much less the chief”.

Lawmaker Hector Recalde also joined the dispute and justified the protest methods employed by the unions led by Moyano’s son Pablo. Last week Pablo’s teamsters blocked oil refineries and threatened with a national strike, which according to Government House sources infuriated Cristina Fernandez.

“Sometimes pressure is valid to prevent direct action. In the case of Pablo Moyano and the truckers, resulted in the signing of a labour contract following weeks of conflict, therefore pressure was well employed”, emphasized Recalde.