Confederación Paraguaya de Trabajadores (CPT)

The Confederación Paraguaya de Trabajadores (CPT) is one of the principal national trade unions in Paraguay. Trade unionism in Paraguay has always been deeply infused with partisan politics. This tradition remained unbroken with the establishment of the CPT in 1951, which reflected the growing strength of the Chavista/democratic faction within the ruling Colorado Party. As president, Federico Chaves attempted to copy the experience of Perón's Argentina in forging clear links between government and the nascent union movement. The subsequent militancy of the CPT did not, however, always serve its members well. In 1958, in an effort to gain a 29 percent increase in the minimum wage, the union launched a general strike that threatened to paralyze Asunción. General Alfredo Stroessner, who had taken power four years earlier, opted to crush this strike with military force. He subsequently directed that the CPT leadership be sacked in favor of men he could control.

For the next two decades the government exercised the strictest authority in labor questions, and the CPT in effect was an extension of the Ministry of Justice and Labor. In 1979 the U.S.-backed Organización Regional Inter-Americana de Trabajadores removed the CPT from its list of member organizations, a clear signal of the Stroessner regime's growing international isolation. Since the general's fall in 1989 and the return to democracy, the CPT, though still a Colorado Party stronghold, has been eclipsed in influence by rival unions, especially the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT). During the 1990s the CPT was weakened by internal conflict and the loss of member organizations. However, it has regained viability, winning back its affiliation with the International Trade Union Confederation and joining campaigns with other social organizations, such as raising awareness about and denouncing child labor.

See alsoLabor Movements; Paraguay, Political Parties: Colorado Party.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

R. Andrew Nickson, Historical Dictionary of Paraguay (1993), pp. 152, 584-589.

Additional Bibliography

Alexander, Robert Jackson, with Eldon M. Parker. A History of Organized Labor in Uruguay and Paraguay. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005.

Barboza, Ramiro. Los sindicatos en el Paraguay: Evolución y estructura actual. Asunción, Paraguay: Centro Interdisciplinario de Derecho Social y Economía Política: Distribuidor exclusivo, Librería El Lector, 1987.

Gaona, Francisco. Introducción a la historia gremial y social del Paraguay. 3 vols. Asunción, Paraguay: Editorial Arandú, 1967–1990.

                                          Thomas L. Whigham