Jorge Altamira (born José Saúl Wermus in 1942) is an Argentine activist and politician leading the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

(''Partido Obrero'') in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Biography

Altamira was born José Saúl Wermus (sometimes spelled "José Huermus") in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, 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 ...

worker active in the Graphist Union, Altamira began participating in the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

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 March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 m ...

, 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 The 1989 riots were a series of riots and related episodes of looting in stores and supermarkets in Argentina, during the last part of the presidency of Raúl Alfonsin, between May and June 1989. The riots were caused by the rampant hyperinflation ...

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 ma ...

; the charges were later dropped. Altamira was elected to the

Buenos Aires City Legislature The Buenos Aires City Legislature (, commonly known as the ) is the legislative power of the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is housed in the Buenos Aires City Legislature Palace, Legislature Palace (), an archite ...

in 2000. He pursued a vigorous

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...

agenda during his tenure at the legislature, and proposed a six-hour workday for

Buenos Aires Metro The Buenos Aires Underground (), 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–Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the ...

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-managed economy, ...

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. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

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 ...

in the city (higher than in most of the rest of Argentina), and a universal healthcare coverage law. He has unsuccessfully run for both a seat in the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...

, 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 (, FIT-U) is an electoral alliance of four revolutionary Trotskyist parties in Argentina: the Workers' Party (PO), the Socialist Workers' Party (PTS), Socialist Left (IS), and the Workers' Socialist Movement ( ...

's no. 1 candidate for

city in the

2013 Argentine legislative election Legislative elections were held in Argentina on 27 October 2013. Open primary elections (PASO) were previously held on 11 August 2013 to determine eligible party lists for the general election. As in 2011 – when such primaries were held for th ...

, 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 Argentine anti-Zionists Anti-Zionist Jews Jewish atheists Jewish Argentine politicians Argentine secular Jews