Argentine oil and gas workers announced on Wednesday that they will launch a nationwide strike in order to reject the recent increase in gas prices imposed by the right-wing government of Mauricio Macri.
The job action will include a strike of around 1,5000 and 2,000 workers from gas stations located in the north of the country, effectively shutting off service.
“We thought that the situation would improve through a political or judicial solution but none of these things has happened,” Moises Solorza, leader of the Private Union of Oil Workers told TELAM news agency.
Argentines have seen the price of gas spike by up to 600 percent in less than five months as the new conservative government unapologetically continues to push neoliberal policies.
“The protest will continue until the government of Mauricio Macri decides to change these destructive policies,” Rene Rotger union leader told the Associated Press.
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Thousands of Argentine Workers Strike Against Macri Nationwide
In the first five months of Macri’s administration, over 154,000 workers in the public and private sectors have lost their jobs amid a major push toward fiscal austerity. Meanwhile, the cost of basic services and utilities has skyrocketed, while social programs begun by the Kirchner-Fernandez governments have been slashed.
President Macri is ideologically disposed to reducing the public sector, arguing that private investment should be the source of new employment.
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