Amid severe recession, unions and activists stage a Federal March in Argentina. [View all]

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Argentina's second largest labor federation, the CTA, has staged a nationwide Federal March against the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration and its policies of "rate hikes, layoffs, and austerity."

The march, organized into five regional columns from cities across Argentina, is set to converge in Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo today at 5:00 p.m.

The Secretary General of the CTA Workers, Hugo Yasky, hopes the Federal March "will serve as a prelude to a national strike involving all unions, in order to demand the declaration of a social emergency, a rollback of utility rate hikes, and the reopening of collective bargaining agreements."

The CTA is currently in talks with the rival, somewhat more conservative CGT to stage a joint general strike later this month. The CGT, the nation's largest labor federation, was reunified on August 22 following a four year schism. Macri's austerity policies, which have led to the deepest recession since 2002, were cited by CGT leaders as the principal motive for their reunification.

CGT leaders, who had been reluctant to join such a general strike, have given the Macri administration until September 24 to authorize a new round of collective bargaining. The last such round, which concluded in March, yielded raises that averaged 30%; inflation, however, has since doubled to 47%.

The Federal March was joined by Kirchnerists (supporters of Macri's populist predecessor, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner), numerous social activism groups, and 20 of the CGT's 124 member unions.

"We are converging social movements and labor movements into a single force," Yasky declared in the western city of Mendoza. "And when we reach the Plaza de Mayo we will be together with clear principles and objectives: ending austerity; changing policy so that no wage or pension remains below inflation, so that no informal workers remain unprotected; and rolling back utility rate hikes."

Today's mobilization also harkens back to the Federal March led by the CTA on July 5-6, 1994, in opposition to the neoliberal economic policies of President Carlos Menem. The current recession, however, is arguably far more serious, with GDP down 4.3%, retail sales down 8 to 14%, manufacturing down 7.9%, construction down 23.1%, and unemployment rising by 64% in just six months.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.minutouno.com/notas/1507287-la-marcha-federal-se-dirige-plaza-mayo-protestar-contra-el-gobierno&prev=search

And: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/220898/industry-construction-figures-for-july-plunge