Minister of Deregulation Federico Sturzenegger stated on Thursday that the labor reform project approved by the Senate in the early morning hours aims to 'solve' the problems of a country that 'does not create formal jobs'. 'This law solves the problem that in Argentina more than half of the workers are informal and no formal jobs have been created for a decade,' said the official. Sturzenegger highlighted that the project 'works on three main lines': the taxes that the state placed on new jobs, collective bargaining, and the 'litigation industry'. According to the minister, with this law, which still needs to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, 'the state's pressure in the form of taxes on jobs created is over'. Regarding collective agreements, he noted that the key point is that there will no longer be 'a single labor negotiation for the country' but rather fragmented agreements so that 'a minor agreement will prevail over a major one to avoid a rigid scheme'. For the new system to work, he added, the possibility of having 'unions by company' was incorporated. Regarding the so-called 'litigation industry', he explained that it does not change the compensation of one month per year worked, but rather the judicial rulings that significantly increased the amounts and made things impossible for companies. 'This will reduce the margins of uncertainty so that there are no surprises' regarding sums related to interests or the payment of experts. In addition, it sets a 'statute of limitations' to not indefinitely prolong lawsuits. 'These litigations could last forever and now they have a fairly rapid reduction period,' he said, referring to the six months that the law incorporates. As for the 'Bank of Hours', he stated that it is about 'adjusting the labor modality to the way people work today, when they seek more flexibility'.
