Labor Unions Join Forces To Oppose Paraguay’s Controversial ‘Privatization’ Law

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Article from NotiSur, May 2

Twenty years after a general strike against then President Juan Carlos Wasmosy (1993-1998) provoked a backlash of state repression that decimated the country’s labor movement, Paraguayan workers are once again making their presence felt. On March 26, the country’s various union organizations put aside their differences to carry out a massive work stoppage that paralyzed the country and served as a wake-up call for the government of President Horacio Cartes. Demanding salary hikes and other economic and labor improvements, participants also took aim at the recently approved public-private association law (ley de asociación público-privada, APP), a controversial measure allowing the executive branch to privatize a vast array of state assets and services for a period of up to 40 years . Union members want the APP repealed. Andrés Gaudín Read More