Perón tried to bring under his thumb most trade and labour unions, regularly resorting to violence when needed. For instance, the meat-packers union leader, Cipriano Reyes, organised strikes in protest against the government after elected labour movement officials were forcefully replaced by Peronist puppets from the Peronist Party. Reyes was soon arrested on charges of terrorism, though the allegations were never substantiated. Reyes was tortured in prison for five years and was only released after the regime's downfall in 1955 without any formal charges.