Following the recent formation of IndustriALL Global Union, Argentinian colleagues formed the Confederation of Industrial Trade Unions of Argentina (Confederación de Sindicatos Industriales de la República Argentina, CSIRA) on July 5.
The confederation is composed of unions representing workers in the following sectors: auto industry (Sindicato de Mecánico y Afines del Transporte Automotor, SMATA), metalworking (Unión Obrera Metalúrgica de la República Argentina, UOMRA), textiles (Asociación Obrera Textil), construction (Unión Obrera de la Construcción) and the garment workers federation (Federación Obrera Nacional de la Industria del Vestido y Afines).
The CSIRA states that
"the unions that have been hardest hit during the decades of neoliberalism are now gathering their forces for a decisive struggle in the face of the world-wide crisis and the belated reawakening of certain sectors that do not realise how far their main enemy has progressed in fighting a development model based on jobs and industrial production, and for a tooth-and-nail fight against right wing liberal and conservative sectors”
The new confederation is led by Ricardo Pignanelli (SMATA) and its secretaries are Antonio Caló (UOMRA), Jorge Lobais (Asociación Obrera Textil), Gerardo Martínez (Unión Obrera de la Construcción) and Romildo Ranu (Federación Obrera Nacional de la Industria del Vestido y Afines).