Buenos Aires, December 14 (NA) -- Mercedes Cabezas, Assistant Secretary of the Association of State Workers (ATE), spoke out against the labor reform promoted by the Government and described it as a 'business reform' that seeks to 'crystallize a situation of labor precariousness' in the country.
In an interview with Radio Rivadavia, the union leader expressed her deep concern and firm rejection of the implications of the initiative and stated that the solution to precariousness does not lie in 'crystallizing or whitewashing' it, but rather in 'guaranteeing that all workers have access to a job with rights'.
According to the Argentine News Agency, Cabezas pointed out that the Government's proposal intends to introduce the figure of a 'collaborator' in the Bases Law, which is equivalent to 'not working', diluting the concept of an employment relationship.
Faced with the official argument about the need to formalize undeclared work and informality in Argentina, the ATE representative stated that the issue is being debated 'internationally' and that the solution does not involve 'lowering legal standards', citing the example of Mexico, where 'the working day was reduced to create more formal jobs', and mentioning that bodies such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) are working on the transition from informality to formality without recommending 'creating a precariousness registry to advance towards fewer rights'.
She also detailed some of the most worrying aspects of the reform: first, she mentioned the 'hours bank', which would allow the employer to decide 'what days you work and how many hours', with the impossibility of defining for oneself when and when the rest time will be, which she considered 'an outrage'.
Furthermore, the union leader emphasized the termination of the ultra-activity of collective bargaining agreements and explained that currently, if an agreement expires and is not renewed, it remains in effect until a new negotiation.
'Not including them in the reform has to do with not touching the conglomerates that are friends,' she concluded.
The reform, on the other hand, would require renegotiating all expired agreements within a year and would allow the Secretariat of Employment to 'deactivate' clauses with which it does not agree.
Regarding the need to improve job creation and the concern of small and medium-sized enterprises about labor lawsuits, Cabezas acknowledged the existence of these concerns but offered a union perspective. 'That's how you end the lawsuit industry by doing things right,' she explained.
In parallel, she attributed part of the problem to a 'cultural' issue in Argentina, where it is mistakenly assumed that paying 'a few envelopes' without formalizing is not having someone in the informal economy.
Regarding the proposal to create a common investment fund to replace severance pay, the ATE secretary warned about the administration of said fund and highlighted that the initiative 'does not solve one of the biggest problems that Argentina has', which is the lack of severance pay when a company goes bankrupt and leaves workers unprotected.
When asked about the strike called by the CGT for December 18, Cabezas expressed clear support and stated that 'a growing discontent' with the reform is brewing. 'There is a company and there are real people who fill their pockets.' 'If you have an SME, you pay the employer contributions and 30 days in advance you notify the worker that they will not be working anymore, then there is no lawsuit worth it.'
