Summary of Lynda Schuster’s “Unions Are Wild Card in Argentine Debt Crisis” by Ryan Steed

 

Argentina in economic trouble

            Schuster begins by examining the financial straits the Argentinean economy is currently in.  One prime example she uses is the threat of an International Monetary Fund agreement that would effectively tax hard-working individuals to pay off foreign debt.  Negotiating with the IMF to “help pay the $5.5 billion in interest due this year on its approximately $43.5 billion foreign debt” could cause anti-IMF executives to “close down factories, put people on the streets and bring [Argentina] to a halt.”  Who would claim to do commit such an act?

 

The CGT

            The General Confederation of Workers has built an enormous base of power for itself, according to Schuster.  “[CGT] leaders historically have wielded massive influence through their ability to paralyze the economy.”  By the 1940s, CGT had become quite popular as Juan Domingo Peron created many benefits for union patrons.  Once elected president in 1946, Peron allowed CGT to write its own election ticket.  The CGT grew in strength through fixed-wages and the shear size of roughly 1000 unions.

 

President Alfonsin’s solutions

            Combating the CGT been the Radical Alfonsin’s primary goal.  One battle has already been won – that for presidency.  The Peronist incumbent lost the election due to strong ties to CGT viewed as unfavorable by the public.  “Alfonsin succeeded in presenting the unions and the military as part of the past, and people didn't want to vote for the past.”  He hopes to combat the CGT by holding open elections with a secret ballot and sign a “national unity” pact aimed at resolving the debt, labor, and inflation crisis’s.  Regardless, Schuster advises us to be cautious as “In the long run, the failure to obtain new union leaders could prove one of the biggest dangers to Argentina.”