2009.09.29_fuera Kraft!

Today I stumbled upon a music festival at the Plaza de Mayo, home of mass demonstrations, and political hub for Buenos Aires. The event was dedicated to supporting the current struggle of Kraft workers in Buenos Aires, and to denouncing government labor policy (or lack of). Click for more snapshots:


After 40 days of employee occupation, Kraft managed to expel the workers and reopen their Buenos Aires plant Monday. A court order lead to the arrest of 60 workers, and the injury of 12, as Argentine police, ordered by the government to defend the interests of a North American company, executed operation Sell-Out.

The employee occupation was instigated by Kraft's massive layoffs and anti-union activity. 162 workers, mostly activists and union representatives, were fired in July for fighting for better health conditions and provoking other workers. If you ask Kraft, they deserved it, but if you ask anyone but Kraft, it was part of a larger design to rid the plant of union organization and worker protections; a plot to make more money off cookies and Handi-snacks.

"They wanted to quiet us so they could begin applying the 12-hour American work shift, employing agency laborers that rotate every six months, increasing production without increasing salary or work force, freezing salaries and all the measures that these types of companies apply," said Cristian Abarza, axed after eight years.

Illinois-based Kraft, the second-largest food manufacturer in the world, reported record revenues of $42 billion in 2008, and they just can't stand to lose their Buenos Aires plant, Argentina's second-largest food processing center. But Argentina, like always, is not going to take it laying down. Monday night, thousands of leftists, unionists, workers, and citizens marched from Congress to the presidential palace. They're mad at Kraft, and they're mad at Cristina Kirchner, who's in the doghouse both for steering clear of talks between Kraft and the Labor Ministry, and for buddying up to one of Kraft's representatives this last weekend, the Obama administration.

The Kraft pickle is just the current focal point of a profound conflict between the Kirchner administration and labor forces, so stay tuned for more mass protests and road blockades!