Union bosses reacted with a mixture of concern and alarm to the decision by President Mauricio Macri to lift currency controls, expressing their hopes that the restrictions lifted on foreign exchange are not transferred to the collective wage bargaining negotiations and to more price increases.

According to private consultancy agencies, monthly inflation could reach 5 percent in January, while food is already seeing higher price increases than other products.

Although he expressed hope that the elimination of capital controls would spur economic growth, CGT umbrella union leader Hugo Moyano said that “the price increases have been large and the inflation in the last few days has been tremendous.” Bread and beef prices have jumped in the weeks since Macri beat Daniel Scioli in last month’s runoff in anticipation of the expected easing of the controls and a subsequent devaluation. Moyano heads up one of the dissident factions of the CGT and met with Macri before he was sworn-in as president.

Adding that the measures “had to be taken,” Moyano said that he hoped collective wage bargaining processes would not be restricted and recalled that the Labour Minister Jorge Triaca has said that salary agreements would not be capped.

As part of the labour response to the measure, the CTA umbrella union headed by Pablo Micheli has called for a march to Plaza de Mayo for next Tuesday in order to demand an end-of-year bonus and to challenge the economic decisions taken by Macri thus far, which also include the reduction of export duties on agricultural goods except for soybeans.

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Buenos Aires Herald