After eight years of separation, the three main union bodies which make up the Argentinian CGT (General Confederation of Labour) officially announced their reunification on 22 August. The agreement was met with great fanfare, at the end of a congress and following a reconciliation process which unfolded over a number of months. The process began after a new centre-right president came to power and an increase in mass lay-offs. “We will rise to the occasion […] difficult times lie ahead,” said Luis Barrionuevo, one of the heads of the new CGT.
Argentina’s General Confederation of Labour fell apart over a period of 12 years, between 2003 and 2015, when Nestor and then Cristina Kirchner held the presidency. The centre-left, populist government was favourable towards trade unions. The barriers between different trade union organisations, parties and elected representatives in Argentina have been quite porous and change depending on leadership. The last few years of the Kirchers’ time in office ended with divisions within the CGT, the ma
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