Peronista Comeback

The Argentine Senate, whose every seat is held by President Arturo Frondizi's Intransigent Radicals, rubber-stamped the President's sweeping labor code one day last week, and the way was left clear for followers of ex-Dictator Juan Peron to recapture their old stronghold of power, the 3,000,000-member General Confederation of Labor (C.G.T.). Despite strong opposition from business groups, the Roman Catholic Church and most of the press, another of Frondizi's vote-getting promises to the Peronistas was thus made good.

The bill, rammed through the Chamber of Deputies two weeks earlier by the government's two-thirds majority, is admirably democratic in form. It requires Frondizi to name government administrators, who must hold free elections of officers in each of the C.G.T.'s 138 member unions within 90 days. Unions recognized by the Labor Ministry will get tax exemptions, exclusive bargaining rights in their fields and compulsory checkoff of dues. Charges of unfair labor practices will be ruled on by a government board.

But so much democracy, in the practical terms of the moment, means so much Peronism. In the days of the dictatorship, the C.G.T. was run from top to bottom by Peronistas, and the rank and file still remember the lavish raises and featherbedding privileges that the Peronista leaders won. Even during the days of the provisional military regime that preceded Frondizi, the Peronistas held on to control of many unions. They now boss 90, including the powerful meat packers, streetcar workers and textile workers. In the new elections they will probably take over most of the 26 unions currently bossed by anti-Peronistas and the 22 unions now run by Communists or Socialists.

With control of the C.G.T.'s national machinery and most of the member unions, Peronism will have its old mass organization intact. But Frondizi has shown no intention of letting Peron himself return to Argentina. In his delicate, dangerous balancing act, the left-of-center President has allowed Peronism to rebuild itself as a counterweight to the conservative army and business elements. Now he must endure the kind of greedy heckling at which Peronistas excel.

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