欧美文化:Argentine railway, healthcare workers to strike over wages, economic policy

BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Railway and health sector workers in Argentina announced on Tuesday a plan to launch 24-hour strikes on Wednesday and Thursday respectively to demand better wages and protest the economic policy of President Javier Milei's administration.

Trade unionist Omar Maturano, leader of the La Fraternidad union of train conductors, confirmed to local media that railway workers will strike for 24 hours on Wednesday.

"We ratified our measures after a meeting in which we did not receive offers nor were our demands received. We are not demanding any wage increase, only an adjustment of what we asked for due to the inflationary rise, it is an update," said Maturano.

"All services will be stopped, with the exception of some long-distance services ... so as not to harm the people who have already purchased tickets," he said.

"Faced with the intransigence of the business chambers, the ATSA Board of Directors decided to call a national strike of activities starting at 00:00 on Thursday, Feb. 22," said Hector Daer, co-secretary general of the General Confederation of Labor and general secretary of the Association of Argentine Health Workers, via social media.

Argentina registered inflation of 254.2 percent in January year-on-year, the highest rate in the last 32 years, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses.