\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) led a massive rally Thursday in Plaza de Mayo to reject the government\u2019s proposed labor reform. The demonstration brought together both branches of the Argentine Workers\u2019 Central (CTA) and social movements, and featured strong warnings to the government over its proposed changes to Argentina\u2019s labor laws.<\/p>\n
At the main event, union leaders left the door open to further industrial action. \u201cThis plan of struggle is just beginning and, if we are not heard, it will end in a nationwide strike,\u201d said Octavio Arg\u00fcello, one of the co\u2013general secretaries at the CGT, Argentina\u2019s principal union federation.<\/p>\n
Cristian Jer\u00f3nimo, another CGT leader, argued that the reform \u201coffers no solutions for the world of work\u201d and warned that the bill \u201cis written in a regressive manner, favoring large corporations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does not benefit small and medium-sized companies or create genuine jobs,\u201d he continued. \u201cOn the contrary, it deepens a model that excludes young people and women.\u201d<\/p>\n
Criticism also focused on the broader economic and social context. Jorge Sola, another CGT co\u2013general secretary, warned of deteriorating production and labor conditions in Argentina. \u201cThe social fabric has been unraveling for two years: one company closes every hour and hundreds of workers lose their jobs every month,\u201d he said, explaining the call to mobilize.<\/p>\n
The protest was decided after a midweek meeting of the CGT\u2019s executive council, attended by leaders of major unions representing sectors including truckers, construction, and healthcare. They agreed a plan of action against the so-called Labor Modernization Law, which introduces changes to severance pay, working hours, vacations, dismissals, and the implementation of an hours bank.<\/p>\n
The march also drew political backing. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t contain a single element that improves workers\u2019 conditions,\u201d said Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, adding that it also lacks support from the beleaguered SME sector.<\/p>\n
Labor reform vote pushed to February After a lengthy day of informational hearings in the Senate, the government announced that debate would be postponed to February. The original goal was to secure preliminary approval next week.<\/p>\n
Patricia Bullrich, chair of the Senate Labor Commission, said that the new proposed date to debate the bill would be on February 10, but the commission would sign a version of the labor reform bill that was open to modifications. She was speaking during a plenary session with the Budget Commission that was working to fast-track the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been the request of many sectors to work on this law, instead of debating it on December 26,\u201d added the former security minister.<\/p>\n
December 26 will instead be dedicated to voting on the 2026 budget and the Fiscal Presumption of Innocence bill passed overnight in the lower house.<\/p>\n
Bullrich said the commissions would sign a version of the bill to give \u201ca certain degree of certainty,\u201d although the final draft has not yet been made public.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good that the debate is being extended and not closed so hastily, as was being attempted, and that voices are heard,\u201d said Senator Mariano Recalde (Fuerza Patria), while lamenting that \u201cthe version does not incorporate any observation or proposal, not even those you yourselves considered acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s plan now is to secure a commission-approved version of the 2026 Budget bill this Friday, December 19, at 10 a.m. From there, it would need to pass the bill in the Senate within the five remaining business days of the year, given that its original proposal failed to advance in the lower house after an entire chapter was struck down. If it cannot do so before year\u2019s end, the Casa Rosada would have to decide whether to extend the 2023 Budget for a third year.<\/p>\n
Originally published on \u00c1mbito \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) led a massive rally Thursday in Plaza de Mayo to reject the government\u2019s proposed labor reform. The demonstration brought together both branches of the Argentine Workers\u2019 Central (CTA) and social movements, and featured strong warnings to the government over its proposed changes to Argentina\u2019s labor laws. At the main […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[414,2646,1918,59,151,5993],"tags":[595,2645,1915,86,135,5992],"class_list":["post-19074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","category-cgt","category-labor-reform-in-argentina","category-politics","category-society","category-trade-unions-in-argentina","tag-business","tag-cgt","tag-labor-reform-in-argentina","tag-politics","tag-society","tag-trade-unions-in-argentina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}