Argentine Union Leader Announces Meeting to Define Measures Against Government's Labor Reform

Cristian Jerónimo, co-general secretary of Argentina's General Confederation of Labour (CGT), announced Thursday that the union's leadership council will soon convene to determine further actions against President Javier Milei's government. The CGT is particularly opposed to the recent implementation of labor reform regulations.

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We will not stand idly by, but everything is discussed and decided within the General Council of the workers' central body.

"We will not stand idly by, but everything is discussed and decided within the General Council of the workers' central body," Jerónimo stated. He confirmed that a general strike remains a possibility as a concrete response. Jerónimo also highlighted the CGT's history of opposition, noting that the union has already conducted four general strikes and 14 large-scale mobilizations against the current administration.

Adding to the pressure, Argentine labor unions united in Geneva, Switzerland, this week to file a complaint against the government at the International Labour Organization (ILO). This marks the first time in 25 years that Argentina has not sent high-ranking representatives to the ILO from Buenos Aires. Jorge Sola, a member of the CGT's triumvirate leadership, presented the case, denouncing "serious breaches of international labor standards" by the Milei administration.

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A general strike is never ruled out as a concrete measure of response.

Sola described the complaint not as a dispute over technicalities but as a formal denunciation of the "systematic dismantling of a democratic model of labor governance" that has been built over decades and is now being demolished by the current government since December 2023.

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What we bring for examination today is not a dispute over administrative technicalities or simple budget adjustments; it is the formal denunciation of the systematic dismantling of a democratic model of labor governance that took us decades to build and that the current national government is demolishing since December 2023.

Previously, the CGT had already rejected the labor reform, issuing a statement that "union freedom is not regulated by decree" and that no government has the authority to replace democratic debate. Jerónimo reiterated this stance, arguing that the labor reform has not created a single new job. He questioned why workers should accept a law perceived as negative when the government itself does not adhere to other laws, such as university funding legislation.

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Union freedom is not regulated by decree.