The Government of Javier Milei will move forward with million-dollar fines against the transport unions La Fraternidad and the Unión Tramviarios Automotor (UTA) after determining that both organizations failed to comply with the current mandatory conciliation and participated in the national strike called by the CGT in the past February 19th.
As it transpired, the economic sanctions being applied by the libertarian administration reach figures of great magnitude: the union that represents locomotive drivers should face a fine of close to 21 billion pesos, while the union of bus drivers could receive a penalty of around 70 billion pesos.
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) expressed their rejection of the official initiative.
The labor union was victimized and maintained that the decision to sanction transport unions responds, according to them, to an act of “political and trade union persecution”.President Javier Milei.
The sanction against unions
The measure was taken after the Secretary of Labor, led by Julio Cordero, verified that both unions disobeyed mandatory conciliation during the strike of February 19, which had an estimated economic cost of 575 million dollars
for Argentina.
After verifying the non-compliance, the agency initiated the corresponding administrative summaries to move forward with the sanctions.
The Ministry of Human Capital released a statement explaining the legal basis of the decision. In that text, it was indicated that “the violations defined in article 4 of the general regime of sanctions for labor violations, ratified by Law No. 25,212, entail a fine of 50% to 2000% of the monthly value of the minimum, living and mobile wage
for each affected worker”.
The fines that would apply to unions would not have a single fixed amount. As established by current regulations, the final value will depend on different factors, including the precise date on which the violation occurred and also thenumber of workers affected by the measure of
force. The CGT.
In addition to the economic impact, sanctions could have other institutional consequences. Current legislation provides for the possibility of withdrawing trade union status from those trade union organizations that
violate compulsory conciliation.
From Human Capital, they pointed out that the application of these penalties seeks to “protect the general interest and guarantee compliance with current labor regulations”, stressing that respect for conciliation instances is a central requirement of the labor relations system.
Compulsory
conciliation Compulsory
conciliation is a mechanism provided for by labor legislation that is activated when a conflict arises between unions and employers. Upon application, both parties are required to open a period of negotiation under the supervision of the Secretary of Labor
.
This process has an initial duration of 15 days, with the possibility of being extended for an additional five days. During this period, the parties must return to the pre-conflict situation and refrain from carrying out direct action measures, such as strikes or protests, under penalty of
