From: "Curtis Price" <cansv-AT-igc.apc.org>
Date:          Mon, 14 Jul 1997 11:28:01 +0000
Subject: AUT: (Fwd) Argentine opposition unions march for jobs


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Fri, 11 Jul 1997 18:24:50 -0700
From:          NewsHound <NewsHound-AT-hound.com>

Reply-to:      NewsHound-AT-hound.com
Subject:       Argentine opposition unions march for jobs



NewsHound article from "STRIKES" hound, score "62."



Argentine opposition unions march for jobs

BY STEPHEN BROWN

BUENOS AIRES (Reuter) - Argentine opposition >>trade<< >>unions<< marched
on Buenos Aires' landmark Plaza de Mayo Friday in a fresh protest against
high unemployment and the Peronist government's plans for labor law
reforms.

President Carlos Menem's message to the marchers led by the MTA and CTA
labor federations, with the support of the Radical Party and Frepaso
coalition, was curt: ``They can stage a thousand marches but nothing will
change,'' he told reporters.

The core opposition to Menem, and to the main CGT union federation which
has signed a labor law reform deal with him, planned to stage an afternoon
rally outside government house.

Hardline state >>workers<<' leader Carlos ``Mad Dog'' Santillan, from the
poor northwest, headed a column of 50 buses.

``Putting an end to Menemism is the only way we can move forward,'' he told
supporters, denouncing the CGT as ''traitors'' and saying Menem has brought
Argentina ``more hunger, more unemployment and more desperation.''

The jobless rate has more than doubled since Menem came to power in 1989 to
17.3 percent, making it the top issue for  mid-term elections in Congress
in October. But Menem has dismissed roadblock protests up and down the
country as ''subversion'', and argues that robust economic growth combined
with more modern labor laws will create jobs.

Officials predict the next release of twice-yearly job data July 18 will
show the jobless rate has fallen to 16 percent.

Menem instructed his cabinet to publicize the billions of dollars of public
works projects being announced before the elections. While acknowledging
``some sort of discontent in the heart of our community,'' he promised
investors there would be no change in the economic policy that has reduced
inflation to zero from 4,000 in 1989.

``For your peace of mind, there is no possibility of change in the
direction this government has chosen in politics, economics and in social
and international programs,'' he said in a speech at the stock exchange
Thursday.

But the unionists on the march do not buy Menem's promises on jobs. The MTA
and CTA both shun the much-larger CGT, which is traditionally close to the
government, for signing a pact on labor reforms awaiting congressional
approval. The deal is also opposed by big business, which wants labor
``flexibilization'' to scrap union control of pay talks and redundancy
payouts.

``The real worry is unemployment: 2.6 million comrades out of work are the
real unwritten law of flexibilization,'' Victor de Gennaro of the CTA told
reporters.

Truckdrivers' leader Hugo Moyano of the MTA scoffed at ''pharaonic'' public
works projects and asked where were the 300,000 jobs Menem promised when
re-elected in May 1995.

``The truth is Argentina is more and more desperate. Today we will see the
real Argentina the government wants to hide, the Argentina of unemployment
and poor pay,'' said Moyano.



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