Court orders government to comply with university funding law, amid strikes

A federal court in Argentina has ordered the government to comply with a public university funding law approved last October which established pay raises for university staff, and which President Javier Milei has refused to implement over budget concerns. The ruling issued on Tuesday by the Federal Administrative Litigation Court states that the government must immediately implement the articles of the law that establish a raise in salaries for professors and other university employees, as well as scholarships. The decision came as public university professors and staff carry out ongoing strikes nationwide to protest the lack of implementation of the law and their low salaries, which have lost close to 35% of their purchasing power since Milei took office over two years ago. Government sources quoted by Página 12 newspaper said that they plan to file an extraordinary federal appeal to have the case brought before the Supreme Court of Justice. The public universities funding law had been initially approved by Congress in August, but Milei vetoed it days later on the grounds that it went against his zero deficit goals. In September, both chambers of Congress rejected the veto, meaning the bill became law. The Executive Branch had no option but to enact the law, but it did so without allocating budgetary resources for its implementation. Later, it suspended its execution through a new decree that stated that the law could not become effective until it was established where the funding would come from. Congress had already passed a similar law in 2024, but Milei vetoed it, and the lower house backed his decision. The new law approved in 2025 made some adjustments to the previous bill, such as clearly stating where the funding should come from. However, this did not stop the president from rejecting the new proposal. The National Inter-University Council and several public universities filed a writ of protection following the 2025 veto demanding the judiciary declare Milei’s decision not to implement the law unconstitutional. In December, a judge accepted their request and ordered the government to put the law into effect, which the libertarian administration appealed. Now, the Administrative Litigation Court backed the judge’s decision. Something similar occurred with a law that increased funding for people with disabilities, approved last year, which Milei refused to implement claiming funding issues. He finally implemented it in February following a judicial order to do so. The court’s ruling stated that the university funding law and Milei’s decree enacting it “reflect the decline in income, the decrease in purchasing power, and the loss of wages among the affected group.” It added that continuing to delay its implementation, regarding salaries and scholarships, would lead to “irreparable damage.” Other aspects of the law, such as an increase in funds and resources for the public university system, will remain on hold for now, until the government decides to implement it. According to the ruling, the fiscal cost of the law amounts to 0.23% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and it would not “affect public interest.” On the other hand, not implementing it jeopardized “the right to teach and learn.” The president of the National Inter-University Council Franco Bartolacci celebrated the ruling, saying it was “excellent news” for the community “in an extremely delicate context.” Protests Public university professors and staff have been carrying out strikes nationwide for the past two weeks, when classes were scheduled to begin, to protest the lack of implementation of the funding law and their low salaries. The protests continue this week, with strikes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Since Thursday and Friday are bank holidays in Argentina, many institutions will have no classes this week. According to professors’ union CONADU, a professor with 10 years of experience earns around $300,000 (roughly US$215). That’s only a fourth of the salary needed for a family of four to stay above the poverty line.On Tuesday, as part of the protest measures, the Philosophy and Literature Faculty of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) organized a public lecture near the house of Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni, following accusations of improper purchases of several real estate properties and his wife’s multiple contracts with the state.