A legion of unionists will meet tomorrow at the Vatican to see the Pope Francisco in his general audience on Wednesdays and, apart from the usual greeting and photo, they will take him several specific claims while in Argentina, almost simultaneously, a sector of the CGT will mobilize to protest before Congress when the Senate session is held to debate the Bases Law.
On the one hand, at noon (Argentine time), the Secretary of International Relations of the CGT will be with the Pope, Gerardo Martinez (UOCRA), and in the afternoon, for their part, they will Juan Pablo Brey (aeronauts), Jose Voytenco (UATRE), Cristian Jerónimo (glass employees), William Moser (Light and force), Pablo Flores (AFIP) and Juan José Moreyra (ceramists), among others.
It will be a new ratification of the strong influence that the figure of the Supreme Pontiff exercises in Argentine unionism, whose leadership periodically goes to the Vatican to greet him, speak with him and take a photo as a trophy: that image is usually in a prominent place in the offices of any important union member, as if in that way The power he has will be confirmed.
In this case, in the midst of Javier Milei’s government, the unionists who will meet Jorge Bergoglio will seek internalize it on specific demands. Martinez, For example, he will present a report that he prepared together with unions in the oil sector linked to the energy transition and the environmental care. “We want to take this study to the Pope,” said the UOCRA leader. Infobae– because we know that he is an advocate for caring for the planet and concern for climate change. We had the opportunity to go to the largest refinery in the world, in Rotterdam, to talk about which negotiating chapters were imposed in the European Union and how they could affect the commercial conditions of the energy potential that Argentina has.”
In any case, Martínez is a prominent member of the dialogue wing of the CGT and, although he maintains strong opposition to the adjustment policies of the Milei government, he became one of the main union leaders who insists on open some negotiation channels with the Casa Rosada to prevent libertarian reforms from causing further economic, social and labor deterioration. The photo of his meeting with the Pope, who also defends social dialogue, will become a postcard that from the libertarian power can be read as a Recognition of that moderate position.
The head of the UOCRA traveled to Rome from Geneva, Switzerland, where he has been participating for a week in the annual conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO), as a member of the Administration Committee for the workers sector. Martínez spoke on three occasions before different instances of the international organization, with harsh criticism against the Argentine government and, in his last intervention, with a position more conciliatory and appeals to open tripartite dialogue.
For its part, Brey, Voytenco, Jerónimo, Moser, Flores and Moreyra together with the president of the Colsal Foundation (from the University of Salvador), Fernando Lucero Schmidtand the head of the Association of Automotive Dealers of Argentina (ACARA), Ruben Beato, They make up a delegation of 26 leaders, members of that entity and businessmen who will see the Pope to talk about a project to solve the problem of food and its consequences on children.
This is an initiative to which unions, companies and non-governmental organizations are joining, which is implemented through the Archbishopric of Buenos Aires in villa homes and soup kitchens located in the city of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires.
Anyway, Brey, who heads the Argentine Aircraft Association (AAA), will take advantage of his presence before the Pope to raise not only his concern about the socioeconomic crisis in Argentina but also because of the situation of Argentinian airlines: They plan to demonstrate before Bergoglio a strong defense of the company’s function and the importance of its preservation. “We are deeply concerned about the intention to privatize Aerolíneas Argentinas. We believe that this measure could have negative consequences for the country, especially for the most remote and less developed regions,” states a letter that the unionist will deliver to the Pope.
There it says that Aerolíneas “not only represents a symbol of national pridebut plays a crucial role in the connectivity and economic development of the country”, although he maintains that the problem with that company “is one of the many that Argentines face” and that also “the intentions of dismantle other critical areas of the Statesince, far from reversing the delicate situation of citizens, it will generate more people discarded of the society”.
