MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Protests grip Argentina

Argentina experienced a day of continuous protests that included the banking, educational, fishing and government sectors, which expressed their labor demands via strikes, demonstrations and street barricades.

Banking Association workers struck for five hours around the country demanding a 30 percent raise and a seven-hour work day. The protest, conducted during working hours at both private and public banks, took place despite the intervention of the Labor Ministry, which ordered the parties to submit to mediation. The bank workers, which plan to strike again May 26-27, also marched noisily around the capital, causing endless traffic problems.

Government employees also struck around the country to demand salary hikes and the hiring of informal employees. In Buenos Aires, members of the State Employees Association congregated at the entrance to Congress and marched toward historic Plaza de Mayo, in front of the presidential palace. The strike was felt in government offices and public hospitals around the country, where only skeleton staffs were at work.

The National Food Safety and Quality Service was also hit hard, arousing concern in the agricultural sector. Farmers said labor strife at the entity "jeopardizes food safety controls, as well as international commitments of $50 million a day."

A dozen Buenos Aires high schools also experienced trouble, as students demonstrated, demanding building improvements and more funding for education. Some students blocked traffic and others forcibly took over their schools. University professors have been on strike since Wednesday and primary and secondary school teachers, members of the Federation of Education Employees, are slated to walk out on Friday. Teachers are demanding higher wages, an overhaul of the educational model and money to fund it.

In the southern city of Puerto Madryn, a hub of the nation's fishing industry, work has been at a standstill for 37 days. Wednesday night, hundreds of workers occupied the municipal council and damaged offices after they rejected the raises offered by employers, most of them Spanish-owned companies. Official sources said tension is mounting as the parties wait for the government to step in to solve the conflict, which has resulted in extensive losses