General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
Argentinian trade union federation
The General Confederation of Labor (in Spanish: Confederación General del Trabajo, CGT) is a national trade union federation in Argentina founded on 27 September 1930, as the result of the merger of the U.S.A. (Unión Sindical Argentina) and the C.O.A (Confederación Obrera Argentina) trade unions. Nearly one out of five employed – and two out of three unionized workers in Argentina – belong to the CGT, one of the largest labor federations in the world.
It was founded in 1930 by socialists, communists and independents to generate a plural union central. It had a socialist majority until 1945 and Peronist since then.
The CGT during the Infamous Decade
The CGT was founded on 27 September 1930, the result of an agreement between the Socialist Confederación Obrera Argentina (COA) and the Syndicalist Unión Sindical Argentina (USA), which had succeeded to the FORA IX (Argentine Regional Workers' Federation, Ninth Congress); smaller, Communist-led unions later joined the CGT as well. The COA, which included the two unions covering rail transport in Argentina (Unión Ferroviaria and La Fraternidad), was the larger of the two with 100,000 members; the USA, which included, telephone, port, tramway, and public sector unions, represented 15,000.
During the Infamous Decade of the 1930s and subsequent industrial development, the CGT began to form itself as a strong union, competing with the historically anarchist FORA V (Argentine Regional Workers' Federation, Fifth Congress). Centered initially around the railroad industry, the CGT was headed in the 1930s by Luis Cerruti and José Domenech (Unión Ferroviaria); Ángel Borlenghi (Confederación General de Empleados de Comercio); and Francisco Pérez Leirós (Unión de Obreros Municipales). The CGT became the Argentine affiliate of the International Federation of Trade Unions (an organization that both USA and COA had been members of for shorter periods).
The CGT split in 1935 over a conflict between Socialists and Revolutionary Syndicalists, leading to the creation of the CGT-Independencia (Socialists & Communists) and the CGT-Catamarca (Revolutionary Syndicalists).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)” is argentinian trade union federation. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through General, Confederation and Labour, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “argentinian trade union federation” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2992765. VIAF identifies the subject as 122595327. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1930, 1945 and 1935.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow General Confederation of Labour (Argentina) primary sources, General Confederation of Labour (Argentina) archive and General research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.