Reconsidering Social Movement Unionism in Postcrisis Argentina

Abstract

The Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina, established in 1992, worked to expand its base, especially among nonunion organizations, to construct an anti-neoliberal front. Driven by the threat of neoliberalism rather than by political opportunities, it was initially outstanding among social movement unions in its reach and its unity. It excelled not only in building alliances with the community but in organizing the community itself. However, the structural weakness resulting from its not being located in a key industrial sector and its lack of legal privileges, which was originally compensated for by its alliances, eventually made it unable to take advantage of changing political opportunities.La Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina, fundada en 1992, trabajó para ampliar su base, sobre todo entre las organizaciones no sindicales, para construir un frente antineoliberal. Impulsada por la amenaza del neoliberalismo más que por las oportunidades políticas, inicialmente se destacaba entre los sindicatos de los movimientos sociales en su alcance y su unidad. Se destacó no sólo en la construcción de alianzas con la comunidad, sino en la organización de la propia comunidad. Sin embargo, la debilidad structural que resulta de su no estar ubicado en un sector industrial clave y su falta de privilegios legales, lo que se compensó originalmente por sus alianzas, finalmente lo hizo incapaz de aprovechar de las cambiantes oportunidades políticas.

Institutionalizing Populist Power Coalitions in Latin America: Argentina’s Economic and Social Council and Brazil’s Council for Economic and Social Development

“…The CTA, a weaker and more fragmented confederation (Serdar, 2015), was not able to maintain its independence of the Peronist administration and overwhelmingly supported the council. The social movements represented in the UTEP, as with other experiments in the region (Munck and Sankey, 2020), tried Source: Data from IBGE (2020), Bizberg (2014), Etchemendy (2011), andSchneider (2009).…”

“…The Confederación de Trabajadores de la Argentina (Confederation of Argentine Workers-CTA), with 1,300,000 members, has only one seat. Split off from the CGT during the 1990s, it plays a secondary role in the social dialogue because of its relative organizational weakness and its confinement to nonstrategic economic sectors (Serdar, 2015). Another seat is held by the Unión de Trabajadores de la Economía Popular (Union of Workers of the Popular Economy-UTEP), a Peronist organization that estimates representing 2 million workers.…”

“…The CTA, a weaker and more fragmented confederation (Serdar, 2015), was not able to maintain its independence of the Peronist administration and overwhelmingly supported the council. The social movements represented in the UTEP, as with other experiments in the region (Munck and Sankey, 2020), tried to maintain a certain independence of the government (criticizing its tepid social policy) but saw in Fernández an opportunity to institutionalize its demands and strongly defended him in the face of neoliberal opposition.…”

Piqueteros after the Hype: Unemployed Movements in Argentina, 2008-2015

“…While in the years since 2003 some individual organizations changed allegiances and the entire movement of unemployed organizations significantly lost strength, this basic distinction persisted throughout the Fernández de Kirchner presidencies (Le Borgne de Boisriou, 2014;Natalucci, 2011;Pérez & Natalucci, 2010;Svampa, 2011). The most important organization representing the former wing is the Federación Tierra y Vivienda (FTV), the largest nation-wide piquetero organization that has been allied to the dissident labour confederation Central de los Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA); it is characterized by a trade-unionist and leftPeronist orientation, and has openly supported both the government of Kirchner (2003Kirchner ( -2007 and that of his wife and then widow Cristina Fernández (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) (Serdar, 2015;Svampa & Pereyra, 2004, pp. 58-63).…”

“…In this area, the organization is also active in international networks and cooperates, for instance, with other Latin American land rights organizations (FTV, 2014). At the national level, the FTV maintains close relations with the progovernment wing of the CTA (Serdar, 2015). On the other hand, the FTV's political role has largely been taken over by the Movimiento de Integración Latinoamericana de Expresión Social (MILES), a political party established in 2011 as the 'political arm' of the FTV, led by D'Elia and directly allied with the government (Dobruskin & Garay, 2012, p. 4).…”