- Title: Labour protest against government hampers Buenos Aires traffic
- Date: 15th March 2017
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (MARCH 15, 2017) (REUTERS) AERIAL VIEW OF EMPTY HIGHWAY LEADING INTO BUENOS AIRES, DUE TO PROTEST THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS ARRIVING AT PUEYRREDON BRIDGE TO BLOCK ROADS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUCIANO NARDULI, WHO LEADS THE CLASISTA AND COMBATIVA CURRENT (OR CCC), AN ARGENTINE POLITICAL AND UNION GROUP PROMOTED BY THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST PARTY, SAYING: "We want genuine work, that's why we fight for social emergency, we fight for there to be a million jobs, not a million plans and with benefits. We want to put Argentina on its feet. Then they ask: 'Why do you block roads?' We block, to cut the way to poverty and to surrendering." VARIOUS OF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE CAMPING IN A BUENOS AIRES STREET, WITH CHILDREN, WAITING FOR ANSWERS TO THEIR CLAIMS FLAG THAT READS: "WE VOTE TO FIGHT" VARIOUS OF BANNERS THAT READ: "WITH 4,000 PESOS WE CAN'T LIVE, INCREASE ALREADY!" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PROTESTING IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GILDO DORATO, LEADER OF THE CONFEDERATION OF WORKERS OF THE POPULAR ECONOMY, SAYING: "It seems the government that does not listen to popular demands and is very prone to measures for the field and for powerful sectors, to make swift decisions but for the working and humble sectors, it takes too long." VARIOUS OF THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS FROM DIFFERENT ARGENTINE SOCIAL GROUPS ARRIVING TO BLOCK ROADS, WITH FLAGS
- Embargoed: 29th March 2017 21:17
- Keywords: social movements Argentina government
- Location: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
- City: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001682N1AB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Argentine labour unions blocked roads on Wednesday (March 15) appearing to pressure the government ahead of the country's key October mid-term elections, local media reported.
Since the early hours of the morning, key avenues and highways - leading into the city - were blocked, clogging traffic. Other streets, especially close to Pueyrredon Bridge were closed for two hours. Police officers stood by, but cuts to traffic remained.
President Mauricio Macri took office 15 months ago promising to jumpstart the economy by regaining the trust of investors after a decade of free-spending populism. Until last week, organized labour had signalled patience with his program aimed at cutting labour costs, interest rates and the fiscal deficit.
Thousands of workers picketed on March 7 in protest of job cuts and wages that have not kept up with inflation, which was clocked at about 40 percent in 2016. Strikes by major labour groups have been threatened over the weeks ahead.
Employers have been hard-pressed to raise pay packages in line with inflation while Macri's push to cut business costs has prompted layoffs in the public and private sectors.
He needs his Cambiemos political coalition to do well in October's elections in order for him to keep pushing his economic reforms through Congress and position himself for re-election in 2019. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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