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PRESS RELEASE . . . 30 December 200 Women respond to the crisis in ArgentinaThe “cacerolazo" (mass protest with banging of pots and pans), invented by women, has become the symbol of protest of the people in Argentina against economic policies imposed by the IMF and the World Bank, and the corrupt ruling parties and trade unions which have enriched themselves by carrying out these policies. The "escraches" organised by women against corrupt politicians have also used the cacerolazo. (These huge mobilisations were invented by HIJOS, the children of the disappeared during the military dictatorship, to out unconvicted torturers at their homes.) Although the national and international media have reported on the escraches and cacerolazos, the vital role of women who keep families and communities alive in giving direction to the protests has been hidden. The most striking feature of the uprising in Argentina is that the party is over: no party or trade union is tolerated. The neighbourhood General Assemblies, the escraches and the cacerolazos convened everywhere mainly by women or at which women have been the majority, have been ‘autoconvocadas/os’ ie self-convened – only self-mobilized people with no connection with any party or trade union are allowed to speak at them. This is the way people have found to keep the pressure on the government, demand the return of the wealth invested abroad, prevent price increases, etc. SAC, the Sindicato de Amas de Casa de Santa Fe (Housewives' Trade Union), an independent grassroots organisation many of whose members live in the poorest neighbourhoods and are single mothers or the wives of unemployed men, domestic workers . . . have been active in the cacerolazos and escraches against the corrupt politicians. They are recognised as uniquely autonomous and for this reason co-ordinate the Multisector Women's Action Coalition in Santa Fe. They are also the representatives of WinWages (the Women’s International Network for Wages for Caring Work) and the co-ordinators of the Global Women’s Strike in Argentina. SAC has put forward an immediate demand to tackle the poverty in which most families and communities in Argentina find themselves. In response to people taking the food they need from the shops, the government says it will give unemployed people 200 pesos a month (US$200 before the 40% devaluation) in exchange for community work. SAC is pressing the governor of the province of Santa Fe, when distributing these emergency payments, to prioritise women heads of households who have no income to feed their children. They stress that the 200 pesos are due to women in recognition of our work caring for others, that is, the community work we are already doing in our homes and neighbourhoods. All over the world we are familiar with women using any resource we have access to, to make sure first of all that children, relatives and neighbours have what they need to survive. We also put in more hours as voluntary workers maintaining communal soup kitchens, children's free milk programmes, schools, hospitals and other survival services. To prevent further corruption and preferential treatment of party and trade union networks or specific areas, SAC also demands to be ‘social auditors’ – monitors for the community.
This vital work of caring for others represents two thirds of the world's work. In our country, housewives work on average 68.9 hours a week, that is, about 10 hours a DAY. None of this work is valued, nor are the lives of our daughters and sons and of the workers we produce and reproduce day after day. As mothers and carers we haven't fought to bring up children for them to end up as cannon fodder for those who control the resources and the wealth.
We urge you to support SAC’s demand by writing to the governor of Santa Fe DON CARLOS ALBERTO REUTEMANN sprivada@arnet.com.ar Please
send a copy of your letter to SAC and to the Wages for Housework Campaign
in London. CONTACT ADDRESSESArgentina:
Published article (in Spanish): El Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina, 27 Dec 2001 http://www.ellitoral.com Spain: England:
USA:
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