The CGT’s secret plan to secure workers’ votes in favor of Sergio Massa

Sergio Massa, at the event organized by the CGT before Congress (Photo Maximiliano Luna)

The overwhelming majority of the CGT does not want to have anything to do with Javier Milei and wants to do everything possible so that Sergio Massa wins the elections. For the labor union, the Unión por la Patria candidate is the opposite of Alberto Fernández: he is better in tune with his positions and, at least until now, he keeps his promises, in addition to having transformed the pessimism due to the poor results of the Government’s management. in the hope that they can still hope to remain in power.

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Therefore, with the exception of Luis Barrionuevo’s gastronomics, brand new partners of the libertarian candidate, the Cegetista leadership not only aligned itself disciplinedly with Massa but also campaigned and continues to campaign for his electoral victory with more enthusiasm than, for example, Kirchnerism.

It was demonstrated, above all, in the way in which the old union apparatus was activated to mobilize this Friday some 200,000 people (according to CGT estimates) before Congress and to show the strong commitment of the labor union in favor of Massa. The law to eliminate the Income Tax was celebrated, a persistent claim by union members that collided with the refusal of Cristina Kirchner during her government and later against the unfulfilled promise of Mauricio Macri.

Héctor Daer, Pablo Moyano, Carlos Acuña and Hugo Moyano, in the front row of the CGT event with Sergio Massa before Congress (Photo Maximiliano Luna)

And, at the same time, the support for a candidate who faithfully represents the Cegetista establishment was staged in the street, with a speech that included announcements of a “government of national unity”, respect for the union model and good relations with the business community, the same preached by the dialogue sector that controls the CGT, made up of “the Fats” (Héctor Daer, from Health, and Armando Cavalieri, from Commerce) and the independents (Andrés Rodríguez, from UPCN; Gerardo Martínez, from the UOCRA, and José Luis Lingeri, from Obras Sanitarias), as well as allies such as Sergio Romero (UDA), Julio Piumato (judicial), Rodolfo Daer (Food) and Jorge Sola (insurance), among others.

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The support for Massa by the power pole in the CGT ended up being joined by the Moyano clan: Hugo and Pablo, already re-elected at the head of the Truckers’ Union and with a truce in their fierce fight to face the difficult times that they imagine will come from on December 10 if Unión por la Patria does not win. The same thing happened with the Confederation of Transport Workers (CATT), led by Sergio Sasia (Railway Union); the National Front for the Trade Union Model (made up of Moyanism and K unionists) and the Federal Workers’ Current (of the banker Sergio Palazzo and other Kirchnerist leaders). The majority believes that the Minister of Economy is the best candidate or, perhaps, the only one who did not shy away from piloting an economy in crisis and, at the same time, maintaining his electoral project.

That is why the CGT designed a plan so that the workers’ votes are directed towards Massa. Before the PASO, when there was still no fear of losing to Milei or Patricia Bullrich, the minister-candidate seemed too alone in the campaign and in management. And the support of the CGT was not enough to reverse the phenomenon that the libertarian represented in the working class and the poorest sectors.

Sergio Massa managed to get an overwhelming majority of union sectors to support his candidacy (Photo REUTERS/Tomás Cuesta)

By dint of an almost inexhaustible series of “positive” announcements, and despite the risks that this new “Platita Plan” would accentuate the economic crisis, Massa gave unionism a share of optimism that had cracked when Unión por la Patria was third in the primaries after La Libertad Avanza and Juntos por el Cambio, in the worst electoral result for Peronism in its history.

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For the Cegetista leadership, the redesign of its campaign strategy to favor Massa included approaching union sectors with which it was in conflict to seal a truce (like the two CTA) and “micro” militancy in the workplace through assemblies to ask Massa for the vote and warn about the dangers of possible Milei or Bullrich governments, in addition to the massive events to give “Peronist mystique” to a proselytizing activity that seemed aseptic.

This is how the event led by Massa on the 9th of this month in Tucumán was thought, with the presence of the Northern provinces, and the next stop in terms of mass concentrations, which was the meeting before Congress with the excuse of celebrating the elimination of Profits . Now, as Infobae anticipated, the CGT will move forward with the organization of an event in Patagonia for the militancy of the region.

Javier Milei, at the Parque Norte event organized by Luis Barrionuevo (Photo Nicolás Stulberg)

The other axis in which the Cegetista unionism works is to prevent Barrionuevo from adding adherents for the Milei project. At this point, in tandem with Massa himself, he began “persuading” some leaders aligned with the gastronomic leader who depend on decisions from the Ministry of Economy. Other union members chose to convince their Barrio Nuevista colleagues that at least for now it was not convenient for them to switch sides: in unionism, the nickname “traitor” continues to carry weight although the shirt changes are very traditional. Pablo Moyano, always far from the manners of a diplomat, made his contribution: he declared that Barrionuevo “will go down in history as a leader who betrayed Peronism.” With such pressure, who will become a mileist now?

The crack in the barrionuevismo was visible. Carlos Acuña (service stations), co-head of the CGT and main supporter of the gastronomic boss, honored his status as a leader of the Renovador Front by maintaining his support for Massa. It is also true that his wife, Blanca Cantero, cannot and does not want to antagonize the ruling party because she is the mayor of President Perón’s party. That is an important loss for Barrionuevo, who has not yet been able to drag other leaders of his sector such as Daniel Vila (Loading and Unloading) and Roberto Solari (lifeguard) into Milei’s ranks. Both Gustavo Vila, Daniel’s son (on a trip), and Solari were at the CGT event before Congress. Nor did any Barrionueva figure attend the event presided over by the libertarian candidate last Friday in Parque Norte, to which, in any case, Barrionuevo himself did not go to avoid the photo together with Milei that would have confirmed that the libertarian made an agreement with the reviled “caste.” ”.

In the Barrionuevista ranks there is discomfort with their political-union leader. Most of them found out from the newspapers about the meeting he had with Milei. That is why many made family or personal excuses for not attending Parque Norte and only sent a delegation of militants from their unions. “We don’t want to have anything to do with the support for Milei,” bellowed a leader who until now was a soldier from Barrionuevo. There is contained anger, although there is also a desire not to cause ruptures in that union faction. “We have to wait. What if Luis gets it right because Milei becomes president?” asked another Barrio Nuova from the first hour who wants to do the plan until the elections.

Luis Barrionuevo, leader of the Gastronomic Union

Meanwhile, played by Massa, the CGT advanced this week against Barrionuevo by warning that “no individual and opportunistic speculation is going to confuse the unanimous will of the organized labor movement,” after which it described the UP candidate as “our only electoral option.”

Furthermore, in a clear allusion to Milei, he expressed his “absolute rejection of the proposals of some candidates who, out of delirium or destruction, propose false individual freedoms, with imaginary virtuous market balances that never materialize and that, in the In practice, they would lead us down a path of disintegration, violence and decomposition.”

That is another part of the CGT’s plan to favor Massa: target the rival who got votes from the workers and the poorest and also the unionist who can take away allies in their own ranks. Even so, pragmatic like few others, in the workers’ confederation they do not close all the doors either: Andrés Rodríguez, cegetista assistant secretary, said: “If Milei asks the CGT, we will meet.”

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