Paro

I always wondered what it would be like to live in a country where the right to strike was constitutionally protected. In my high school communist/syndicalist days, I saw unionization as the solution to all economic problems. Later, as I adopted a classical liberal perspective, I believed that they were a hinderance to the free market and hurt employers and workers alike. After a month in Argentina, I know both of these to be false. More than anything else, strikes are just annoying.

For the last two or three weeks, the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Social Sciences (in which I take two classes) has had a combination strike/lockout. Some faculty members refuse to work, and some students "take over" the buildings, locking everyone out. They are protesting for more money and have had marches and demonstrations. But the result of their actions has not been a radical change in policy, or even a small reallocation in funds. The only result is that the university is closed. The same goes for every protest here (and there are many). They are not effective, they are not destructive, they are just obnoxious. Traffic is blocked, services are shut down and life continues with some minor inconveniences.

I understand that the right to collective negotiation is important, and after six weeks it is clear that protesting is an essential part of Argentine culture. Still after listening to professors lecture out in the street because we were locked out of the classroom and navigating alternate routes when protestors block major thoroughfares, I think the right may be slightly abused. Protesting and striking so often can only weaken a group´s message and, perhaps more importantly, severely interfere with life for the rest of us.