On May 4, in the middle of a long and difficult negotiation that had reached a deadlock, the Union of Tourism, Hotel and Food Services Workers of Argentina (UTHGRA) launched a plan of mobilizations and was brutally repressed by the police in an action that left dozens wounded and many more arrested. SIREL spoke with Norberto Latorre, UTHGRA finance secretary and president of the Global Committee of the IUF’s Hotel, Restaurant, Catering and Tourism Workers Professional Department (HRCT), who gave his evaluation of this serious episode.

-How did the Monday, May 4 rally begin?

-We started out in the morning, handing out flyers in Puerto Madero, a leading restaurant and hotel district of Buenos Aires. There we gathered in front of the Sheraton Hotel, because that’s the main five-star hotel chain that is opposing the wage increase we’re demanding. We protested peacefully, just making noise, beating the traditional bombo drums and lighting firecrackers. We then left for the FEHGRA offices (the Hotel and Gastronomic Business Federation of the Republic of Argentina), located some two kilometers away. We went there by bus, without cutting off any streets or blocking traffic.

-What happened there?

-When we got there we were surprised to find the whole block completely fenced off on all sides. We couldn’t get near the front of the FEHGRA offices to protest as we always do.

-And this is something that doesn’t usually happen…

-Of course not. Hugo Moyano* occupies factories, stages sit-ins in businesses and cuts off roads and there’s never any police intervention. Why then are we being so violently repressed now? Why us? I think it was a political decision made by the government, namely by the Interior Ministry, which was directed against our general secretary, Luis Barrionuevo, and hotel and restaurant workers in general. They’ve denied this, but, let me ask you, who then ordered the police to repress our peaceful rally if it wasn’t the Interior Ministry? Who sent out the water cannon trucks?

-How did the events unfold?

-We had organized a peaceful protest and FEHGRA officials had simply asked for normal police protection provided by the district precinct, which usually appoints a few police officers to such tasks. But instead we were met with riot police armed with clubs and rubber bullet guns, who charged at us with water cannon trucks. It was a completely exaggerated operation, with a ridiculously large and excessively equipped force. As our protesters began to move towards the fenced-off area, the police reacted aggressively, so our people responded instinctively, reaching for whatever they could find to defend themselves. We reacted in self-defense, to fend off an attack from the police.

-What was the balance of this police action?

-They came down really hard on us, leaving 35 wounded. One person almost lost an eye, and several people are still hospitalized at the Güemes health facility. Seventy unionists were arrested, and even though they’ve been released, they spent a bad night in jail. But we’re not going to be intimidated by this. Far from it. This has made us stronger, now we’re even more motivated to continue fighting for our constitutional right to protest and demand that our interests as workers be defended.

-What are UTHGRA’s demands now?

-A 30-percent wage increase, which has been denied by management. After these incidents, we’ve learned that two five-star hotels are willing to negotiate, and that the businesses grouped under FEHGRA, which represent 90 percent of all the sector’s activity, will meet on Friday, May 8, and will probably decide to resume negotiations.

-How is the global crisis impacting the sector in Argentina?

-In our activity what we’re seeing is mostly a media campaign orchestrated by companies, which are using the excuse of the crisis to deny the wage increase requested. While it’s true that in 2009 we won’t see the same level of activity we saw in previous years, it’s also true that from 2003 to 2008 the sector accumulated very high earnings. During this period they gathered a large enough ‘cushion,’ or reserve, to put them in a position to grant us the raise we’re demanding. Besides, even though there have been cancellations they haven’t even affected 30 percent of all reservations, and a hotel with 50 percent occupancy has a good budget surplus. Any five-star hotel or hotel with more than 100 rooms that has 30 percent of its rooms filled is not losing money. We have experience in that sense because as a union we manage four hotels and we know what the costs involved in running each hotel are. They’ve been operating since 2006 with an average 90 percent yearly occupancy, so we can’t accept the companies’ refusal to give us a raise that is solely aimed at helping workers recover the purchasing power they lost with past inflation.

-What are your next steps?

-We have to consider whether we need to change our strategy or not. But we’re going to keep fighting. We’re more motivated now than ever. We’ll probably start taking direct actions on a company-by-company basis and then go on to implement strikes on a regional and national level if necessary. Workers are earning salaries that are no longer enough for them to make it through the entire month, which is why we have so many workers that are behind this struggle and why many more will join us as we move forward.