Pay in food, changes to holidays, and a time bank system: government files labor reform bill

The Argentine government has filed a labor reform bill aimed at loosening employment regulations and discouraging litigation against employers in a bid to make it easier for companies to hire people.  Peronism, left-wing parties, and unions have blasted the proposal as an attack on workers’ rights and called a protest march in response. The 79-page bill, signed on Thursday by President Javier Milei and five of his ministers, aims to “reduce labor costs, promote job creation and formalization, encourage new investments, and simplify administrative burdens,” according to a government summary. Among the modifications, the bill would introduce new severance pay calculations for workers who are dismissed without cause. Although the bill maintains the general rule of one month’s salary per year worked, it introduces caps and specifies that laid-off workers will not have the right to litigate to obtain further compensation. Workers could be paid in foreign currency, as well as pesos, and even food or other products. This proposal has faced particularly strong opposition from unions.  The project aims to create a timesheet system allowing employers to ask workers to stay after hours when needed and take the time off later. These extra hours would not be treated, or paid, as overtime, but simply part of the worker’s regular hours. How the proposals affect unions The bill would also make trade unions less powerful. Argentina’s persistent inflation means employed workers typically get a series of raises throughout the year to compensate for price rises. Unions negotiate these by sector and workers receive the increases irrespective of which company they work for.  The new bill proposes several changes to this system. At present, collective bargaining agreements stay in place after they expire until a new one is negotiated. If the bill is approved, agreements will not be valid after their expiry date. Moreover, under current legislation, a collective agreement takes precedence over lower-level agreements (such as arrangements made within a particular company) unless the latter are better for the worker. The bill proposes that lower-level agreements will always take precedence over collective agreements, even if the conditions are less favorable to employees. Holiday allowance in Argentina In Argentina, workers currently have to take their holidays all at once, between October 1 and April 30. The legal minimum for new starters is two weeks, although unions can negotiate more.  The government’s bill proposes that employers and employees could agree to dates outside that period as long as the company gives at least 30 days’ notice. Workers would still have to receive some leave during the summer at least once every three years. The bill would also allow workers to split their holidays into blocks of one week.  The probation period for domestic workers would be extended from one month to six. One in seven working women in Argentina is a domestic worker and 98% of domestic workers are women, according to data compiled by the group of feminist economists, Ecofeminita. Argentina’s main trade union federation, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), will hold a demonstration in Plaza de Mayo against the reform. The left-wing coalition Frente de Izquierda y los Trabajadores urged the CGT to organize a campaign against the new proposals.  “Down with the slave labor reform: on the 18th at 6 p.m., everyone take to the streets,” they posted on X.