A great strike in Argentina. Communication paralysis, schools stood

This is the third general strike of the largest Argentine trade union headquarters of CGT against Milei's decisions, which since the office in December 2023 conducts a widely tied campaign “Cutting with chain saw” public expenditure to pull the country out of a deep financial crisis.

– After this action they will have to turn off the chain saw. It ended. There is no more room for subsequent cuts – said in the communiqué the President of the Trade Union of Public Administration Employees, ATE, Rodolfo Aguiar.

The strike led to significant communication difficulties, paralyzing the operation of trains, taxis and ports, and disrupting air transport. Lessons in public schools were canceled, waste disposal and delivery of mail were suspended, and many offices limited their activities.

As announced, city buses did not stop running, and therefore long queues formed at the Metropolis Buenos Aires. There are also private shops and schools.

On Thursday morning there was tensions between the protesters and the police. The officers accelerated a group of leftist demonstrators who tried to block traffic on the Pueyrredon bridge, one of the main access routes to Buenos Aires.

The government firmly criticized the strike, displaying, among others, on the screens of the railway stations the message accusing the trade union “Attack on the Republic”. “The caste of trade unionists is allowed by an assassination of millions of Argentineans who want to work,” it was written in a press release.

Milei won in 2023 the wave of social dissatisfaction with raging inflationcorruption and deepening financial crisis. From taking power, he tries to dismantle the care state built for decades and rebuild the country based on the neoliberal model.

As part of the economic “shock therapy”, Milei dismissed thousands of public administration employees, solved a number of ministries and government agencies and reduced social benefits. Although the country has achieved a budget surplus, it became a cost of deteriorating the financial situation of many families. Pensioners felt particularly severely.

The poverty indicator initially increased under Mileia to over 50 percent, but – according to official data – in the second half of 2024 it fell to about 38 percent