While the bourgeoisie talk about economic growth in the countries of the region, wages continue to fall and labor instability, unemployment, food insecurity and poor access to clean water, electricity, health services and so-called “social welfare” continue to grow. Governments focus on fiscal measures, inflation control and the reduction of welfare spending.

Governments that call themselves “leftist” or “progressive” are the most aggressive and do not hesitate to use repression against their opponents. Prominent in this are: Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia, where the “anti-neoliberals” impose increased exploitation and reduced fiscal deficits.

The labor movement in Latin America displays all the well-known erroneous and opportunist positions that have historically driven workers to class conciliation, paralysis, division and disorganization, leaving them disarmed and defenseless in the struggle for their demands. Traitorous union centers dominate the scene, integrated into the bourgeois state, subservient to governments and laws.

Only sporadically do we see disgruntled workers waging struggles, united at the grassroots, escaping the control of union leaderships. But even in these cases, traitorous unions seize the first opportunity to boycott struggles and reach downward agreements with the bosses.

It is relevant that these spontaneous struggles have focused on demanding wage increases or improvements in working conditions and environment. In these spontaneous struggles, where workers went beyond treacherous management, the labor movement adopted the strike as a form of struggle, focused on class-based economic demands and united beyond artificial divisions such as union affiliation, nationality and trades.

And when workers mobilized spontaneously, despite the conciliation of the union leaderships with the bosses, we saw how governments reinforced the criminalization of protests, accusing the struggles of being part of “terrorist plans,” “coup,” “destabilizing,” “treasonous,” and “criminal” in nature.

An “anti-fascist congress” has been held in Venezuela and the government is pushing through a law “against fascism,” which already has as its precedent legislation “against terrorism” and “against hate.”

In general, they want to promote throughout Latin America the false opposition between democracy and fascism, despite the fact that they are two faces of the regime of bourgeois domination. Into this trap is intended to make so-called “public opinion” fall, imposing a new version of the political polarization between bourgeois factions fighting for control of governments, is actually directed against the wage-earners and their organizations of economic struggle.

Workers are subjected to a psychological and ideological warfare that, through the media and social networks, governments and various parliamentary and electoral parties distract, confuse and disorientate them, inviting them to embrace bourgeois-democratic demands: defense of the vote, the Constitution, the homeland, the national economy, in a class conciliation with the bourgeoisie. Even in this context, workers manage to escape this great ideological coercion to wage their own economic struggles.

The real demands of the working class thus remain buried under the democratic-bourgeois claims and diluted in movements with a poly-class or petty-bourgeois orientation and generally subordinated to the interests of political groups vying for control of the government.

Our Party insists on the call for the formation in all countries of a Class Union Front, expressing unity of action in the economic struggle and overcoming the artificial divisions associated with nationality and trades. We also insisted that in struggles workers must unite even if they are affiliated with different unions. This front should emerge in a climate of multiplying the struggles of wage-workers as a way to break free from the chains of betrayal by the regime’s union centers. There is a need for the class union movement to resume agitation for a general strike as the only way to impose workers’ demands on the bosses and their governments.

In Brazil, the strike of the workers of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) stands out; since July 10 they have been engaged in a struggle to demand better wages and working conditions. By the end of September, this strike will have been ongoing for about 11 weeks (by September 23 it had reached 70 days). Workers have organized locally and rejected various government offers. They rejected an agreement signed by the unions and remained on strike. But the government remained unyielding and declared that the workers are infiltrators of “Bolsonarism,” accomplices and followers of former President Bolsonaro’s “coup d’état.”

Regardless of the results of this strike and the weakness of some of its demands, we have seen once again how when workers join the base and throw themselves into the struggle, despite the passive and conciliatory attitude of the union leadership, the movement tends to approach the methods of class struggle and organization: debates and decisions in the assemblies, indefinite strike without minimum services, concentration on proletarian economic demands, and breaking any kind of artificial division in the movement.

As long as the employers’ government remains intransigent, it is predictable that the struggle movement will tend to wear out and, in order to move forward, will have to seek contacts with other sectors of the workers to extend the strike. The bourgeois Superior Judicial Court has been trying to use legal measures to intimidate workers, the imposition of a daily fine on unions and limiting strike membership to only 15 percent of rank-and-file workers, guaranteeing a “minimum service” of 85 percent. The bourgeois press is trying to turn service users against workers. Scabs have been used in some municipalities.

In Colombia so far, the government has succeeded, with the support of traitorous unions, opportunist parties and so-called social movements, in keeping workers passive, waiting for an offer of reforms presented to parliament, but which leave aside workers’ basic economic demands.

The Colombian government is trying to eliminate subsidies of various kinds and implement neoliberal policies that have a social impact. A “strike” of truck drivers took place between August 31 and September 6. This was not an action by workers, but by small, medium and large entrepreneurs in the transportation sector. They were protesting against an adjustment in the price of diesel fuel. The government finally succeeded in forcing the liberalization of fuel prices, despite the impact it will have on public transportation for workers, food and service prices, without anyone raising the issue of wage increases.

In Venezuela, the effect of the campaign continues on workers’ struggles, which tend to demobilize. This effect has been prolonged because of the struggle of bourgeois factions and their parties over whether or not to recognize the results of the July 28 presidential election.

Workers, in addition to being distracted by the media offensive, are frightened by repression at the time of making their demands and starting their struggle. There are no class unions to defend workers. Labor inspectorates are in favor of the bosses and apply procedural delays and administrative silence, lengthening the time until the worker gets tired or is forced to look for another precarious job to survive him and his family.

The government keeps the minimum wage and bonuses frozen in the public sector; in the private sector it only pays higher bonuses. But in general, workers are getting wages that do not cover the cost of living.

School workers, who staged massive mobilizations for wage increases in 2023, abandoned by union federations, got nowhere. However, they imposed the same timetable implemented during Covid 19: not receiving a pay raise, they concentrated the 36 hours per week of the contract in 2 or 3 days a week and in order to do a second job to supplement their insignificant salary. But with the start of classes this October, the government has threatened to fire those who do not comply with the schedule. The workers, without the support of union federations, are disorganized and we do not know if they will be able to stand up collectively and resume the struggle.

In Argentina, on September 2, President Javier Milei vetoed the law on adjusting pensions to inflation. Since then, older workers have demonstrated in the streets to the point of harsh police repression. The government will only pay a bonus of 70,000 pesos. Pensions had already been devalued by more than 60 percent during the Macri and Fernández governments. Once again the government and parliament join forces to legislate against workers, and the labor confederations continue to take no action or call a general strike.

Meanwhile, the wave of public sector layoffs continues: 65,000 more are announced by the end of September.