Compañera * President, compañeros at the table, compañeras and compañeros:

Argentina CGT is honoured, not only to be here during these pivotal days for workers all around the world, but also to express, in few words, the meaning the continuous unitarian strategy of the union’s movement for us and the birth of this new tool: The International Confederation of Trade Unions.

Let me tell you that the Americas are watching us and taking part in this process full of hope and expectation. Among other things, because we are part of a continent in transition plenty of inequities.

America in general, Latin America in particular, has been the experimental field of the “Washington Consensus” which finally sank most of our countries in poverty and our population in despair, specially our workers.

Economic and neo-liberal policies impact and wealth concentration practices have been devastating and a shame for human dignity. However, there are new winds in the region. We presently have governments that have arisen with a different sight, looking at their people’s needs and daring to promote changes to allow social justice become true not a utopia, with the conviction that ruling is to create work, decent work.

We are going through a tunnel difficult to be passed through and to find the way out, taken from the concise recipes where economy was thought for a minority group, towards a new political stage of which we certainly know what we want, related to rights and living standards, although we still do not have clear strategies, the tools and the specific policies for each country and for each region.

In December 2005, from the Summit of the Americas we said NO to FTAA – Free Trade Area of the Americas- [Spanish acronym ALCA – Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas]. Our trade unions are standing, in action and we declared so in the Americas Labour Platform. Workers say yes to integration, as long as integration levels upwards, in addition to the two values, without which it is impossible to go ahead: democracy and solidarity.

We are all aboard, rebuilding our societies, ruled by solidarity as a value and permanent practice.
From there we notice the transcendence of this moment. The moment when the tool is structured, the structure is built to be able to fight for a new society of work, a solidarity society.
A tool that must be including, pluralist and respectful for diversity, if it claims to find the contents for a new global union that improves the quality to represent workers and place them in a higher level to redirect globalization..

In a year, without delays, we will be deeply engaged to the creation of The Americas Confederation of Trade Unions. There is no time to lose, no reasons to lose it: said creation is part of the historical commitment we have with our people.

To conclude, we want to welcome the independent unions which will go through this way of solidarity basis, especially those from Latin America. It is not time for excluding; it is not time for mean priorities. We will keep on working with the ones that have not been incorporated yet.
 
It is time for more and better global union

WELCOME TO THE NEW GLOBAL UNION ALLIANCE