Buenos Aires shut down Wednesday as a transport strike coincided with the traditional International Workers' Day/May 1 holiday, bringing the capital to a standstill.
Trade union groups paralysed buses, trains and the Subte underground system, according to the Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers (CATT) and municipal authorities.
The industrial action was the second of a two-day shutdown, following on from another strike and street mobilisation on Tuesday by unions that oppose the economic policies of Mauricio Macri and his administration, with a general election just six months away in which the president will seek re-election.
"The protest is part of a generalised pattern of unrest, due to the runaway increases in the [cost of the] food basket, the rate of payments [of public services and utilities] and poverty," said union leader Juan Carlos Schmid, head of the CATT, in statements to the opposition-friendly radio station Destape Radio.
Veteran truck-drivers union leader Hugo Moyano, however, said that the transport strike "is not serious, it is not understood what it wants to raise," criticising rival union leaders for calling a shutdown on what is a traditional holiday in Argentina.
"It's May 1, maybe 5 or 10 percent of people work," said a baffled Moyano.
Buenos Aires and other cities across the country were deserted, with the day taking on the distinct feel of a Sunday.
- TIMES/AFP
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