National deputy from Unión por la Patria, Eduardo Valdés, presented today a 'counter-reform' labor project that openly opposes the government's proposal to flexify working conditions, which it will attempt to approve in Congress during this extraordinary session. 'The labor modernization required by the 21st century must go hand in hand with more rights. An effective and updated minimum wage restores collective bargaining its historical and constitutional role,' the opposition deputy justified. Another point addressed in Valdés's project concerns the regulation of work in digital platforms. In this regard, the proposal aims to establish a presumption of labor relationship when there are elements of direction, organization, or control—including algorithmic control—reaffirming the application of the Labor Contract Law and the principle of primacy of reality. 'We will prevent technological innovation from being used as a mechanism for evading labor responsibilities, prioritizing effective registration, social protection, and transparency in digital work management systems,' assured the Peronist leader. Finally, the initiative proposes a comprehensive approach to combating structural informality through the articulation of labor policies with social protection tools, such as the Family Emergency Income (IFE) as a transitional instrument to formal work, and the updating of the Annual Complementary Salary (SAC or bonus). 'We are not proposing an isolated or fragmented reform, but the construction of a coherent regulatory system, oriented towards formalization, protection, and integration, preserving the historical conquests of Argentine Labor Law and projecting them towards the challenges of the 21st century. We must jump over the false dichotomy trap that the national government poses,' assured the Peronist legislator, who added that 'work is not a commodity or an adjustment variable, but the structuring axis of social justice, democratic cohesion, and productive development'. Key points Among other points, the initiative expands maternity and paternity leave for births (126 days for pregnant people and 90 days for non-pregnant) and for adoptions (90 days), while extending the duration of special leaves (for marriage or cohabitation, for the death of a spouse or direct relative, for taking an exam, etc.). 'In Title VII, it introduces a modern and comprehensive conception of labor leave, based on the principle of co-responsibility in care tasks, aligned with international standards on children's rights, disability, equality, and family protection. It guarantees economic indemnity during the enjoyment of leave, expands and systematizes special leaves, and strengthens the regimes for pregnancy, non-pregnancy, and adoption, recognizing the diversity of family configurations and care situations,' Valdés states in the project's foundations. On the other hand, the initiative called 'Permanent Regime for Labor Formalization, Integral Protection of Work and Production', establishes mandatory operating guidelines for the National Council of Employment, Productivity, and the Minimum, Vital, and Mobile Salary. 'The Council must be summoned in a mandatory and automatic manner with a frequency of no less than three (3) times per year, regardless of whether there is a request from any of the represented sectors. In each convocation, the Council must necessarily issue a ruling on the updating of the minimum, vital, and mobile salary,' the project accessed by the Argentine News Agency indicates. 'To this effect, the Council must consider, as a base, the data on the socioeconomic situation, the evolution of the cost of living, the value of the total basic basket, the evolution of the price index, the objectives of the institute, and the reasonableness of the adjustment between said variables, in order to preserve the purchasing power of the minimum salary,' it is added. Valdés clarifies that 'the proposed reform does not invade or limit collective bargaining, on the contrary, it strengthens it'. 'In the Argentine constitutional system, the minimum wage fulfills the function of an inalienable floor of public labor order, while collective bargaining, regulated by Law 23.546, operate 'upwards', improving salary and working conditions according to the reality of each sector or activity,' explains the deputy from Unión por la Patria. 'When the minimum wage is outdated or distorted, collective bargaining is forced to negotiate from urgency, concentrating on recomposing basic incomes instead of discussing real improvements.'
