Buenos Aires, December 17 (NA) -- The Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers (CATT) confirmed its participation in the mobilization at Plaza de Mayo tomorrow to reject the labor reform project promoted by the national government, during a press conference led by its general secretary, Juan Carlos Schmid.
According to the central union, the support for the protest is based on four central axes: the defense of the ultra-activity of collective bargaining agreements, the preservation of the right to strike and compensation, the rejection of declaring transport as an essential activity, and the denunciation of deregulations affecting the sector.
CATT announced that the concentration will begin at 13:30 at the National Directorate of Vialidad, located at Julio Argentino Roca 738, from where the column will then march towards Plaza de Mayo.
In this context, Schmid stated: "We are going to discuss a labor reform where thousands of layoffs are happening, nothing is being consumed, industry is collapsing, commerce consumption is collapsing, and money is not enough".
"If with the collective bargaining agreement in hand we cannot put more coins in our people's pockets, let's imagine what is going to happen if we don't have it," warned the union leader.
Challenges to the labor reform
Schmid also asked: "If this supposed modernization project were as good and beneficial as it is presented, what is the point of limiting union activity?", and affirmed that the government's objective is to weaken trade union organizations.
"This goes against us and the interests we represent. They seek to take money away from the union organization so that it does not have the resources that allow us to undertake better defense," he emphasized.
In line with this, the head of CATT pointed out: "We must make the maximum effort to demonstrate that we are truly against the labor reform and that this is an escalation".
Support for the CGT and a symbolic gesture
"If there is something that bothers the government, it is our presence on the street," Schmid affirmed, and valued "the reaction of the CGT", considering that "it is the best business card that this new leadership has".
For his part, the CATT Press Secretary, Horacio Calculli, explained that the choice of Vialidad Nacional as the concentration point seeks to make a symbolic gesture within the framework of a struggle they are carrying forward together with the Road Workers' Union.
Calculli emphasized that collective bargaining agreements and compensation are "fundamental principles that guarantee the validity of labor rights", and warned that "attacking ultra-activity generates uncertainty, weakens collective bargaining and breaks the balance between capital and labor".
