The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) affirmed this Monday that its claim of unconstitutionality regarding the labor reform law is based on the violation of “Article 14 bis” of the National Constitution, as well as principles of the ILO and the San José Pact that have constitutional status. “The so-called ‘modernization’ means a serious affectation of collective and individual rights that explicitly violate constitutional principles,” expressed the union center in a statement released after filing its unconstitutionality request in court. According to information from the Argentine News Agency, for the CGT, the new law, which has not yet been enacted, violates “the Principle of Progressivity (or No Regression): which prohibits adopting unjustified measures that imply a setback in acquired labor rights.” Likewise, it violates the “Protective Principle: which is based on the structural inequality between employer and worker, and which seeks to restore equivalence and prevent abuses against the protection of the weaker party, which is the worker.” Additionally, the document states that “Article 14 bis of the National Constitution is affected in rights such as protection against arbitrary dismissal, the right to strike, collective bargaining, freedom of association, union freedom, social security, among other items.” It also questions that the new regulation allows “workdays of up to 12 hours, the end of overtime and, consequently, a reduction in salary.” It also eliminates “sanctions for employers who did not pay contributions and violated the law,” and provides “that severance pay for dismissals be paid in installments and through the FAL (Labor Assistance Fund), covering dismissal costs with contributions from the workers themselves, defunding Social Security.” For the CGT, all this is compounded by the fact that as a result of current policies, “more than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the first two years of this government.” Likewise, they highlight that this has resulted in “an increase in unemployment. Constant closure of companies, SMEs, and businesses. Loss of purchasing power of wages. Fall in gross domestic investment.”
