The government is trying to dismantle the leadership of an exemplary struggle.

On February 3, with an unparalleled precedent, the national Chief of Staff himself, Manuel Adorni, assured the media that 10 political leaders of the Hospital would be fired and 29 more would be sanctioned. He did so through a social media post titled with a threat “who does the crime, does the time” The viciousness of the government is proportional to the blow it received with this exemplary struggle, which achieved an unprecedented wage triumph. Garrahan struggle became an example for the entire workers’ movement. It is necessary to defend the new anti-bureaucratic leadership of Garrahan by deploying a great national and international campaign.

The hospital authorities had already initiated a process of rigged internal summary proceedings for a workers’ action carried out in October 2025 against the main leaders of the Garrahan’s struggle, including our comrade and General Secretary of the Association of Professional workers and Technicians Norma Lezana, other members of that association, leaders of ATE and activists. The operation set up by the government and the hospital authorities is so clear and illegal that the national Chief of Staff announced it through the main newspapers and TV channels before the internal process of summaries had concluded, openly stating that they wanted to put an end to the left-wing leadership of the hospital, which main leader is publicly known to be a member of our Argentine party, the MST.

This vicious attack is explained by the fact that the heroic struggle of the Garrahan proved that the Government can be defeated. The Garrahan’s struggle has not only achieved a significant economic victory, but it has also clearly shown that the Government is only still standing because the trade union centrals are not headed by leaders like Norma Lezana. In the context of the attempt to advance in the voting a labor counter-reform, the government tries to send a message to workers. We must not allow it.

A categorical defeat

In 2025, the workers of the Garrahan hospital were the only example of workers’ struggle that categorically and repeatedly defeated Milei’s austerity policy. To do so, they carried out a long term plan of struggle permanently discussing with the workers, carrying out innumerable strikes, marches, festivals and countless initiatives that put them in the center of the scene and transformed their struggle into a national cause that reached more than 90% of support.

Their triumph was categorical because even if the Government tried to break them, far from succeeding, and due to its insistence, an apparent “salary conflict” escalated into a political conflict. This led to a deepening of the union measures and managed to widen the unitary pole around the conflict that became part of a national discussion, not only as a salary conflict but also around the importance of upholding the most important pediatric hospital in Argentina and the need to issue a pediatric health emergency. As a result, solidarity and social support for this struggle was further strengthened.

In addition, a corruption scheme in the hospital authorities themselves was exposed. The authorities used funds coming from donations and from services charged at the public hospital in shady “financial investments” that proved that the “no funds” excuse was a lie

The strength accumulated by the Garrahan struggle cornered Congress and Senate members, who ended up voting in favor of the pediatric health emergency. This forced the Government to veto it, and vote again with a special majority (which ended up obtaining even more support than the previous time). Cornered and defeated, but not willing to twist its arm by applying the voted law, the government was forced to grant a salary increase of 61%. This increase was achieved in the context of a wage guideline of 1% wage increase per month for the rest of the workers nationally. That is to say, it is a blow to the government’s wage policy and to the bureaucracy complicit in the validation of the wage reduction.

An example they cannot tolerate

The triumph of Garrahan Hospital revealed that the government, no matter how many wage limits it sets or its attempts of bursting the organization of the workers, cannot defeat them if workers fight to the end. It also showed that combative, democratic, plural and class-conscious union leaderships are necessary to do so. This is key since the indirect blow to union bureaucracy and its politics of what is possible and what is not was a slap in the face. It deepened even more its crisis and nurtured the perspective of an alternative leadership.

In summary, Garrahan puts Milei’s entire orientation for the labor movement at risk. From his intentions, that of imperialism and national capitalists to destroy labor conditions and union rights, to the weakening of the control of the agents in the labor movement.

He intends to change labor legislation in Argentina (although the deal is not yet closed) and needs to weaken the sector that has been fighting the most against this reform in practice and has become an example to follow. This is the ultimate explanation of this vicious attack that fails to hide Milei’s political insecurity.

All or nothing

From the very moment that the summary proceedings came to light, at the end of last year, the Association of Professional workers and Technicians led by Norma Lezana warned about the maneuver the government was preparing. Far from being an internal summary, it was a political weapon of union persecution. Pertinent defenses began immediately, along with the political denunciation of this persecution and mobilization actions with the objective of articulating the fight against the labor reform and against the intended layoffs.

Now, in the face of the government’s haste to illegally fire our comrades, at the Hospital, surrounded by a broad internal solidarity and activism in the rest of the country, a solidarity campaign has been launched to prevent this violation of trade union freedom from taking place. It is very important to to extend this campaign internationally. We call on all organizations committed to the class struggle and to respond to the authoritarian advances of the far-right to surround the leadership of the Garrahan Hospital with solidarity, sending videos and statements that we will widely share.