After back-and-forth discussions over the wording of the labor reform, the Government opted to avoid a direct confrontation with the unions and will not include the restrictions on solidarity quotas that were in the original draft of the project pushed by the Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Federico Sturzenegger. 'This reform aims to create jobs. Anything that does not go in that direction will be discussed at a later date,' summarized an influential voice in the Executive branch regarding what they call 'labor modernization.' According to Noticias Argentinas agency from two official sources, the project's details will not include the point that caused tension with the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), which rejected the possibility from the start and, in a gesture of discontent, was absent from the last May Council meeting held last Tuesday at the Casa Rosada. Although the Chief of Staff, Manuel Adorni, assured that the councilor was returning to the country from his trip to Washington, the unions had no voice in the latest exchange that finalized the details of the final report published on www.argentina.gob.ar/consejo-de-mayo. The project containing the changes to the labor scheme will enter the National Congress this Thursday, when President Javier Milei returns to the country after his trip to Oslo, where he will participate in the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The union's stance In the section covering the proposals discussed during the six meetings held from June to December, the body highlighted that Gerardo Martínez, head of the UOCRA, representing the union wing, stressed the need to value Vocational Training (FP) and argued that the measures do not imply high costs if carried out in a planned manner. 'One thing is to close the project and another is to complete the formal circuit to send it from the Presidency to the Legislative Power,' they explained to this agency. #AgencyNA Ultimately, his position prevailed over the harder line. Despite the Executive's promises, the project's details remain unknown, but sources familiar with its drafting state that 'it is closed' and will be published on the web in the coming hours. Furthermore, the document includes a proposal to 'rewrite the Labor Contract Law,' although the confederation is taking a distance from this point. Cornejo says the CGT publicly criticizes the labor reform so as not to appear anti-worker. He also listed his observations on the Labor Contract Law and proposed changes to the perception of individual and collective rights that were taken into account when drafting the conclusions but were excluded from the projects that will be sent to the Legislative Power this Thursday after President Javier Milei's return. On more than one occasion, Martínez made his displeasure with the essence of the reform public, stating that it directly attacked workers' rights. 'We are not going to sit with our arms crossed,' he promised. In the libertarian administration, they maintain that the president maintains a good relationship with several members of the confederation who, at some point, visited the Casa Rosada to meet with then-Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos. With the aim of not making waves at the end of the year, they will avoid including some of the harshest points rejected by the CGT and pushed by Sturzenegger and libertarian Senator Patricia Bullrich. In the halls of Balcarce 50, some warn that the confederation's reaction is reasonable and even anticipate some form of labor action in the coming days. 'It is to be expected.'
