Peronist Strike Short of Goal in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES — Demanding higher wages and a break with Argentina’s international creditors, Peronist-led labor unions struck nationwide Tuesday against the government of President Raul Alfonsin.

The generally peaceful, 10-hour strike drew at least partial support in major Argentine cities but fell far short of the almost total shutdown that the unions achieved in their last stoppage, on Jan. 24.

In Buenos Aires, an estimated 140,000 strikers rallied against the economic policies of “a government that does not want to listen to its people.”

“The Radical party dictators must go!” the crowd chanted, referring to the Radical Civic Union, Alfonsin’s moderate party. Members of leftist political parties supporting the strike waved banners calling for Argentina to suspend payment on its $50 billion in foreign debts. “Moratorium Now!” said pamphlets scattered through downtown streets, which were largely deserted by mid-afternoon.

More of the Same

Addressing the crowd, Saul Ubaldini, secretary general of the Peronist-dominated General Confederation of Workers, charged that the economic policies of Alfonsin’s civilian government are a continuation of those pursued by the military regime that preceded his December, 1983, election.

Ubaldini said that Alfonsin’s plan to sell some government enterprises to the private sector represents a victory for “foreign imperialism.”

“The government is sucking the workers’ blood,” Ubaldini said, adding, “Neither force nor repression nor the government’s divisive spirit will overcome the workers’ fortitude.”

Tuesday’s strike, the fifth against the government by the Peronist labor confederation, came at a time of increasing confrontation fueled by a painful economic crisis.

“This is not a democracy,” Ubaldini charged late Monday in an attempt to attract support for the strike. The unions insist that Argentine workers are the principal victims of government austerity policies aimed at controlling inflation.

Since its adoption last June, a stabilization program called the Austral Plan has reduced inflation from over 1,000% a year to an officially projected 28% for 1986. Real wages have fallen sharply, however, and a price freeze is being honored largely by omission. Government inflation figures are widely disbelieved.

As part of the stabilization effort, Argentina has made peace with its international creditors, paying regular interest on the debt to foreign banks and multinational lenders such as the International Monetary Fund.