Hundreds of comrades took part in the 7-a-side football championship organized by December 18 Union Current and SiTraRepA at Club Nueva Generación in the Monserrat neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
Originally published in: https://izquierdaweb.com/gran-sabado-anti-milei-de-la-corriente-sindical-18-de-diciembre-y-el-sitrarepa/
Translated by Laila Camagni
The football teams were mixed, and the event was marked by camaraderie, a desire to share experiences and to reflect on daily struggles. The event also had games such as bingo and “truco”, with great burgers and pork sandwiches, and a classic Argentine finish- a round of shared mate.
In opposition to Milei’s survival-of-the-fittest ideology, the spirit of collective struggle — “no one gets out alone” — urges the need for organising. Throughout the conversations, it was emphasized that within the workers’ collective there are some infiltrators and opportunists who have even taken control of the steering wheel: there was no shortage of criticism toward the CGT, the traditional bureaucracy and the new bureaucracies, and a strong push for building new unions like SiTraRepA, to reclaim the old ones and revolutionize them, giving them truly class-conscious and democratic leadership
App-based workers shared how bosses are pushing for full “uberization” of labor, starting with denying the existence of an employment relationship. This model seeks to strip away all rights, making workers not only provide their labor but also their tools — bicycles, motorcycles — and leaving them defenseless in case of accidents. They also denounced miserable wages that force them to work even more than 12 hours per day just to earn a few pesos. In the face of such exploitation, SiTraRepA is organizing solidarity and fighting for union recognition to win labor rights.
As expected, electoral politics also entered the discussion, with a strong call to defeat Milei with a working-class, feminist, and youth-oriented perspective. A perspective that breaks with Peronism, and its dead-end pragmatism, as with the so-called “alternatives” to capitalism that have already failed and paved the way for Milei’s rise. In addition, there was questioning toward the FIT-U for refusing to unify the left under a common electoral front.
Out of the 20 football teams that participated, it outstanded that 5 of them came from different places where SiTraRepA operates. There were also several teams from university non-teaching staff (“nodos”) at UBA, comrades from the tire workers’ union and the Brown List. The Carlos Fuentealba teachers’ group — part of the leadership of Córdoba’s UEPC — was strongly represented, alongside educators from Suteba in Gran Buenos Aires and ATEN. Healthcare workers formed a team named “Free Palestine.” There were also comrades from ATE, from major car and metalworking factories, and fighters from the Télam struggle. A special mention goes to the Anticapitalist Retirees, who held their founding assembly during the event.
In the end, the “Viaducto” team — composed of SiTraRepA comrades — took the championship, with “Indocumentados” (also SiTraRepA) coming in second place.
But more important than any score was the renewed commitment to organize, to defend our rights, and to build and reclaim workers’ organizations by and for workers. Throughout the day, workers sang for workers’ unity and against the CGT.
