Fw: Police Riot against workers protesting labor reform in Argentina: 50 arrested, 18 injured (fwd)

["Johannes Schneider" <Johannes.Schneider@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am forwarding another eye-witness account on the police repression in 
Argentina on
April 19th. It orginates from the Troskyte usenet discussion group
alt.politics.socialism.trotsky

> > Subject: Police Riot against workers protesting labor reform in Argentina:
>  50
> >  arrested, 18 injured
> > From: Vicente Balvanera <v_balvanera@xxxxxxx>
> > Date: 2000/04/19
> > Newsgroups: alt.politics.socialism.trotsky
> > Comrades,
> > Just a short note with my own eye-witness account of what happened this
> > morning April 19, 2000 at 3:30 am in front of the Congress building in
> > Buenos Aires, Argentina.
> > It will be useful to analyze the facts later, but for now it is
> > imporltant to get the information out.
> > As I reported several weeks ago, the Labor Reform Bill passed the House
> > of Deputies and was due to be voted on in the Senate before May 7.
> > Unexpectedly, the debate on the bill was moved up to today, April 19.
> > The *dissident* CGT workers confederation led by truck driver Hugo
> > Moyano, who has voiced opposition against the bill but refuses to call
> > for a general strike to defeat it, mobilized his union and others
> > (Court workers, bus drivers, garbage collectors) to mount a protest
> > last night and all day today in front of Congress in Buenos Aires while
> > the bill is being voted on. The protest was mainly aimed at
> > *influencing* senators to vote against the bill, but no plans were
> > evident for a general strike, but rather a more lax "work stoppage" in
> > support of the protest. (In these cases, just the shop stewards go, the
> > *apparatus*).
> >
> > We arrived at approximately 12 midnight and there were several hundred
> > workers in peaceful protest in front of the Congress.
> >
> > Of the left, small contingents of the MST and PTS were present, much
> > later joined by a small PCR (Revolutionary Communist Party -
> > Stalinist/"maoist").
> >
> > To make it short, at 3:30 am, the police attacked the protest with
> > water cisterns, tear gas, rubber bullets and lead bullets. Most of us
> > were able to retreat down the main street perpendicular to the
> > Congress. There were no arrangements made for security or auto-defense
> > by the organizers of the protest.
> >
> > Then a police riot ensued (Federal Police, under the order of the
> > Ministry of the Interior and armed with a court order to clear the
> > demonstration), with TV video being shown over and over again today
> > with scenes reminiscent of the Rodney King video, I am not
> > exaggerating. 50 workers were arrested, 18 injured.
> >
> > At 5 am Hugo Moyano gave a press conference indicating that the protest
> > would continue today (April 19). Still no call for a general strike. He
> > blamed the whole thing on the government and on the Peronist Senators
> > who refused to vote against the labor reform.
> >
> > This morning, truck drivers were making pickets all over the country
> > (250 in Buenos Aires, 150 outside the YPF oil refinery in La Plata,
> > total of 1000 all over the country) and were on strike till 9 pm
> > tonight. Judiciary workers also, and came to the Congress. Their
> > Secretary General was shot in the testicles with a lead bullet during
> > the police riot.
> >
> > The CTA (rival confederation organizing mainly state-employees, like
> > teachers and public service) announced its support and promised to
> > attend the protest.
> >
> > The protest will continue all day.
> >
> > The most likely outcome will be that the debate and vote in the Senate
> > be postponed and the situation defused tonight. But the workers are
> > very surprised and angry over the tremendous repression, and if
> > propaganda could explain what the labor reform bill means to the
> > working class the situation could ascend. But that remains to be seen,
> > and in any case is not work that can be done in a matter of hours. It
> > is times like these that the disastrous results of the centrist and
> > reformist leadership's refusing to build in the proletariat can be most
> > clearly seen.
> >
> > Most workers I spoke with did not know the main points of the labor
> > reform bill (no more collective bargaining on an industry wide basis
> > (more decentralized, plant-level), trial period of 6-12 months during
> > which workers can be fired at will, anullment of all current contracts
> > and agreements, etc., see previous posts on subject or on our site in
> > English), and also were under the mistaken impression that a general
> > strike had been called.
> >
> > Also, the rank-and-file were not called out. A large demonstration with
> > the rank-and-file would not have been victimized in this way by the
> > police.
> >
> > Today will not be rank-and-file either, but *apparatus* from more trade
> > unions will go, no sign of students yet.
> >
> > As I write this, the repression has started again (11:30 am), will get
> > back tomorrow. Several hundred workers are outside the Congress, with
> > contingents from most left groups. Incident was short, this time the
> > crowd resisted the police, who had to take refuge behind the barricades
> > erected outside the Congress.
> >
> > Next report back in about 24 hours.
> >
> > FOR AN INDEPENDENT BLOCK WITHIN THE CGT TO FIGHT FOR A GENERAL STRIKE.
> >
> > FOR RANK-AND-FILE VOTED DELEGATES ELECTED TO A NATIONAL PLENARY TO
> > FORGE A PLAN OF ACTION AND VOTE A GENERAL STRIKE, THE ONLY WAY TO STOP
> > LABOR REFORM.
> >
> > DOWN WITH POLICE REPRESSION. FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF WORKERS AUTO-
> > DEFENCE.
> >
> > --
> > Vicente Balvanera
> > Comiti Iniciativa Obrera Socialista
> > (Socialist Worker Iniciative Committee)
> > http://www.geocities.com/trotskist_1999/
> > textos en espaqol: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/1602/