Argentinas CGT picks new leaders as it braces to debate Mileis labor reform

Argentina’s General Confederation of Labor (CGT, by its Spanish initials) elected new leaders on Wednesday amid internal differences and a tense voting session. The confederation will continue to be a triumvirate as it prepares for the challenge of debating President Javier Milei’s labor reform. The new authorities will be Octavio Argüello (from truck drivers union Camioneros), Jorge Sola (insurance workers), and Cristian Jerónimo (glass production workers union SEIVARA).  The vote was a tense affair as union members were reluctant to pick new authorities, a source present told the Herald. The candidates had been chosen hours before the vote by a small group of union leaders, resulting in a single list that got 1,604 votes. There were also 35 blank votes. “The election was born dead,” the source told the Herald. A tense affair at the CGT The three candidates were decided by a group of powerful union leaders, including historic CGT members like Hugo Moyano (Camioneros), Héctor Daer (healthcare), Armando Cavalieri (retail workers union), Gerardo Martínez (construction workers), and others. The candidates, Argüello, Sola, and Jerónimo, were also present at the meeting. There were several issues at the heart of the disagreements. The first was about keeping the triumvirate format or voting for a single CGT leader. Also, some union members had doubts about the proposed candidates, specifically questioning their predisposition to face the government. Another point of contention was the lack of a female candidate. Maia Volcovinsky, leader of a union representing judicial workers, was a potential candidate to occupy the third chair alongside Sola and Jerónimo. However, Argüello finally took her place, ensuring that Moyano will continue to have influence in the CGT. After being elected, the three new CGT leaders gave speeches questioning Milei’s labor reform but hinting that they could be willing to negotiate. “The CGT will not back down before any government. The CGT has history; it will fight, but it will also sit in the corresponding contexts to build whatever decisions are necessary. We are not afraid when they threaten us with a reform,” Jerónimo said. Sola questioned that the government pretends to make unions weak with the reform but argued that “this country has grown thanks to workers having rights,” which the government now pretends to attack.  “They think that union leaders are political adversaries. They are wrong. We are strategic partners.”