Argentina's Transport Sector Plans National Strike

The transport sector is planning a 24- or 48-hour national strike before year's end to continue its demand for less tax pressure as surging inflation cuts spending power, a union leader said Thursday.



Pablo Moyano, who runs a truckers union, announced the plans after a three-hour strike Thursday slowed the start of business across the country, as buses, trains and other transport services didn't start running until after 7 a.m. local time.



"We have voted to hold a general strike," Moyano told Radio La Red.



"There is a lot of anger because we will lose our (end-of-year) bonus" to the payment of income taxes, he said. "So the workers want to continue with these types of measures."



Moyano said the planned strike will likely include all transport unions, plus a demonstration in Plaza de Mayo, which fronts the government's headquarters.



The unrest comes as a contraction in Latin America's third-largest economy sparks concerns of layoffs while 40 percent annual inflation makes it harder to get by.



Bankers and teachers have walked off the job in the past month, and two national strikes were held earlier this year.



A main demand is for the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to raise the income tax threshold so that fewer workers will have to pay it.



This year an increasing number of workers have suffered declines in their tax-home pay because rising salaries – about 30 percent, or less than inflation – have pushed them into higher tax brackets that require income taxes and exempt them from social programs such as child welfare.



So far, the government has refused to heed their demands.



Jorge Capitanich, the president's chief of cabinet, shot down the possibility of raising the income-tax threshold, repeating the stance that the president took Tuesday.



"We can't do everything," he said Thursday during a televised press conference before departing on an official trip to Brazil.



Capitanich asked workers to support the government, saying that the collection of taxes is needed to "invest" in improving infrastructure, adding that state subsidies for transport are keeping fares low to "improve the spending power of salaries."



Moyano, whose father, Hugo, runs the General Labor Confederation, the country's largest labor umbrella group, said that with Thursday's strike and the planned one for the end of the year, the hope is that the government will listen to their concerns.



"The government's arrogance makes it so that if we demand something then they say we are coup-mongers or extortionists," Moyano said. "But this (income tax) claim has been around for years."



www.aa.com.tr/en - Arjantin