Javier Milei’s government’s labor reform seeks to increase employers’ profits and subjugate workers, without having any role in creating jobs, as the Argentine government claims. This is the assessment of the president of the Latin American Association of Labor Lawyers, Matías Cremonte.
In an interview with Brazil Agencythe specialist, who is an advisor to five unions in the neighboring country, refutes the Milei government’s arguments and explains that the reform, in practice, will prohibit strikes in Argentina due to the limitations imposed on workers.
“It is a law that gives even more power to employers and, of course, to the detriment of workers, who are practically powerless in an already unequal and unfair employment relationship”, he highlighted.
Approved in the Chamber of Deputies this Friday (20), the project allows the extension of the daily working day from 8 to 12 hours; creates the time bank, with overtime that may no longer be paid, but compensated in another day; in addition to limiting the carrying out of strikes.
Read the full interview:
Brazil Agency: What is the government’s objective in promoting this labor reform in Argentina?
Matías: This is a regressive project that will remove individual and collective rights from the entire Argentine working class. The government says it is necessary to encourage employers to hire and that it would even have a virtuous effect on economic activity.
However, it has been demonstrated that labor legislation has no impact on job creation, nor even on job destruction. This depends on the government’s economic policy.
The government’s policy is based on the unrestrained and indiscriminate import of goods, against which Argentine companies are unable to compete. These are policies that are eroding wages. Consequently, there is a sharp drop in consumption, and companies that depend on the domestic market are being severely affected.
Furthermore, there is no tax or credit policy that favors the creation of jobs. No law, not even one more regressive than this, will make businesspeople hire more.
Brazil Agency: If it doesn’t create jobs, what would be the government’s objective with this reform?
Matías: This reform has two objectives. First, increase company profitability by reducing salaries, both direct and indirect.
Second, it is to increase the subjugation of workers. It is a law that gives even more power to employers and, of course, to the detriment of workers, who are practically powerless in an already unequal and unfair employment relationship.
Brazil Agency: The reform allows working 12 hours a day, but requires a 12-hour rest period between shifts. What is the week like for a worker working 12 hours a day?
Matías: A company can organize work based on a bank of hours. With this, the journey will no longer be counted by day or week, but over a longer period. For example, a month.
The employer could instruct the employee to work 12 hours on one day, 6 hours on another, 8 hours on another, and, at the end of the period, if it is a month, the hours worked would be counted.
If you worked less than 192 hours in a month, you would have to compensate by working more hours in the following period. And if you worked more, you should rest those hours.
The law, then, establishes that the only limitation is that there must be a 12-hour rest period between the end of one working day and the beginning of the next. If the worker leaves at 8 pm, he will not be able to arrive the next day before 8 am.
Brazil Agency: But is there a limit of 48 hours per week?
Matías: Although the 48-hour weekly limit remains, if the calculation is monthly, there can no longer be a weekly limit because one week you can work 50 hours and the next week 40, as long as the monthly total is 192 hours.
And there is a limit of 35 uninterrupted hours of rest per week, which would be between Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
Brazil Agency: Why does Milei’s labor reform limit the right to strike?
Matías: The only limitation that currently exists for strikes in Argentina is strikes in essential services. Essential services, according to our legislation, are those whose interruption could put the life, health or safety of the population at risk.
They are: health services, that is, hospitals, production, distribution and transportation of drinking water, electricity and natural gas, and air traffic control.
However, the labor reform proposes that more activities are considered essential. And it also creates a new category called services of transcendental importance.
In the event of a strike in essential services, at least 75% of normal activity must be guaranteed. In the event of a strike in services of transcendental importance, at least 50% of normal activity must be guaranteed.
By expanding so much what is considered essential or transcendental, and by imposing such a restrictive limit of guaranteeing 75% or 50% of the service, in practice, this is a restriction that we can practically consider a prohibition.
A strike that maintains 75% of normal service is a strike without effect. Furthermore, the number of activities included covers almost all existing activities. Education, transportation, even restaurants, hotels, everything.
Brazil Agency: What is the problem with the Labor Assistance Fund. What are the losses for the worker?
Matías: Today, in Argentina, in the event of unfair dismissal, the employer has to pay compensation equivalent to one month’s salary for each year of service.
Now, the Labor Assistance Fund (FAL) is being created, and each employer has to contribute a certain percentage of each employee’s salary to this fund. When they fire someone, they take money from this fund and pay compensation.
But, so that the employer’s contribution does not increase, the percentage allocated to FAL is deducted from social security assistance, which is the money for the pension and retirement system.
That’s why we say that the workers themselves are paying their compensation, because the money comes from this fund. The change compromises the sustainability of the country’s social security.
Brazil Agency: The reform also regulates work by application. What would you highlight about this topic?
Matías: Instead of regulating the protection of application workers, the reform excludes them from labor legislation. Not only do they continue in their current precarious situation, but it is also difficult for these workers to claim the existence of an employment relationship and, therefore, their labor rights.
Brazil Agency: What is the change with the National Labor Court? Why does the government want to transfer functions from this justice system to the common justice system?
Matías: The National Labor Courts must disappear and have their functions taken over by the common courts of the city of Buenos Aires. They want the review of labor decisions to be the responsibility of this Court.
Currently, the Labor Courts are composed of the judges of first instance, the Court of Appeals and nothing else, or, in exceptional cases, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, as the Federal Court.
The Superior Court of the City of Buenos Aires, which they want to be responsible for labor issues, is a court created by the right wing of this country, created by the government [Maurício] Macri, who has been in power for almost 20 years, in the City of Buenos Aires. They think it will be a court that favors businesspeople.
