Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Peronist rally in 1947 marking the two-year anniversary of the October 17, 1945,
demonstrations that brought Juan Perón to power.
(Archivo General de la Nación)
production rose 25 percent, and employment levels increased 13 per-
cent over the same period. Workers seized on these favorable economic
conditions and struck in record numbers from 1946 to 1948. They
anticipated Perón's tolerance. The state's gradual elimination of non-
Peronist union leaders did not end blue-collar militancy, and the CGT's
lack of success in stifling labor strikes in the meatpacking and the
metal trades suggested that these militants still could sustain a degree
of union autonomy.
The rank and file emerged victorious during these early years of the
Perón government. Between 1945 and 1948, real wages for skilled and
unskilled workers rose 22 and 30 percent, respectively. More important,
the portion of national income earned by workers grew from 40 to 50
percent. The majority of industrial laborers enjoyed medical compen-
sation, maternity leave, paid vacations, and protection from arbitrary
dismissal. Their attachment to Perón cannot be measured completely
in material benefits, however; working-class loyalty also reflected the
workers' gratitude for “the dignity … that the oligarchy always denied
us,” as one labor leader observed (Brown 1997, 172).
