Jorge Altamira (born José Saúl Wermus in 1942), is an Argentine activist and politician leading the
Workers' Party (''Partido Obrero'') in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
He was born José Saúl Wermus (sometimes spelled "José Huermus")
[ in ]Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, on 14 April 1942. Altamira's parents were ethnically Jewish but spiritually atheist and he was raised without religious conviction. Son of a printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
worker active in the Graphist Union, Altamira began participating in the labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
at an early age, and took part in a number of strikes. Altamira had a son. He founded an advocacy magazine, ''Política Obrera'', in 1964, and, later a party by the same name. The party was banned following the March 1976 coup, however, though in 1982, amid the political liberalization that preceded the 1983 return to democracy, he founded the Workers' Party of Argentina.[ He was among five Workers' Party leaders arrested during the 1989 riots in Argentina on suspicion of ]incitement
In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but ...
; the charges were later dropped.
Altamira was elected to the Buenos Aires City Legislature in 2000. He pursued a vigorous labor rights agenda during his tenure at the legislature, and proposed a six-hour workday for Buenos Aires Metro
The Buenos Aires Underground ( es, Subterráneo de Buenos Aires, links=no), locally known as Subte (), is a rapid transit system that serves the area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo–Pla ...
employees working underground, a law protecting workers' self-management
Workers' self-management, also referred to as labor management and organizational self-management, is a form of organizational management based on self-directed work processes on the part of an organization's workforce. Self-management is a def ...
of bankrupt businesses, a hike in the minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
to cover the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
in the city (higher than in most of the rest of Argentina), and a universal healthcare coverage
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
law. He has unsuccessfully run for both a seat in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputados de la Nación), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress ( es, Congreso de la Nación). It is made up of 257 ...
, as well as for the Presidency, and is one of the nine members of the Co-ordinating Committee for the Refoundation of the Fourth International.
He was the Workers' Left Front
The Workers' Left Front – Unity ( es, Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores – Unidad, FIT-U) is an alliance of initially three Trotskyist parties in Argentina formed to fight a number of elections in 2011, announced at a press conference ...
's no. 1 candidate for Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
city in the 2013 Argentine legislative election, but he did not obtain a seat.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altamira, Jorge
1942 births
Living people
Argentine communists
Argentine atheists
Argentine Trotskyists
Politicians from Buenos Aires
Workers' Party (Argentina) politicians
Candidates for President of Argentina