The Metalworkers' Union (UOM) announced in an internal statement its rejection of a salary proposal and called for a 24-hour national strike. The measure will affect steel and metal plants across the country, reviving past protests that paralyzed major industries such as Ternium, Acindar, and Tenaris, with mobilizations in different localities.
The UOM's Secretary General, Abel Furlán, expressed the need to seek a decent salary and criticized the salary increase offer proposed by the employer chambers, which he deemed unacceptable as it is far below inflation. The union's objective is to negotiate a salary improvement with business sectors and avoid job losses.
The labor measure was defined at the National Congress of Metal Delegates 2025, held in Mar del Plata, outlining six staggered strikes, the first being 24 hours long. The possibility of 48 and 72-hour strikes in subsequent weeks is not ruled out. The UOM is the first major industrial union to openly confront the government.
Amid a stagnant scenario in the bargaining negotiations for Branch 17 (metalworking) and informal advances in Branch 21 (steel), the UOM's Secretary General denounced that the salary deterioration is unbearable. The authorities' reasons for not being able to discuss free negotiations include the indiscriminate opening of imports and global tensions that affect the national economy. The fight for decent wages and fair working conditions has led the union to take this labor action in response to current economic policies.
