Rodolfo Aguiar called for taking Public Employee Day off in order not to have to work.

The violent Secretary General of the State Workers' Association (ATE), Rodolfo Aguiar, intensified his confrontation with Javier Milei's government this Thursday by calling on union members to disobey Decree 430/2025, which eliminates the administrative leave scheduled for Public Employee Day, celebrated this Friday, June 27.

The union organization had already reacted negatively the previous day, after the announcement by presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni, in which he announced the elimination of the privilege for public employees.

"The government's decree is bogus and we're not going to comply with it. ATE calls on everyone to take State Worker Day off tomorrow, Friday," Aguiar stated through his social media, in rejection of having to work like any other private sector employee.

Aguiar then added: "No one is obliged to comply with rules that go against the National Constitution. Their impotence is obvious, they want to punish us because public employees haven't given in and we've been the union that confronted them from day one."

Amid a new day with multiple strikes organized by ATE since the libertarian administration took office, Aguiar announced that this Friday, at 12 p.m., the union will hold a press conference in front of the Labor Secretariat, located at 650 Leandro Alem Avenue.

"Only their hatred explains why the rest of the labor activities have their day and it's a non-working day. Celebrating our day is a right that Congress established by law and only Congress can repeal it," he emphasized, in an attempt to justify his privilege.

He concluded with a threat to Milei's government: "We're not ruling out carrying out a direct action measure, such as a strike, to be announced in the coming hours." Meanwhile, the union plans to file an injunction with the courts today to avoid having to work.

Later, in an interview with Radio La Red, Aguiar described the official decision as "a measure of an authoritarian government" and stated that "Milei won't be able to become the Emperor of Argentina." He also claimed that the libertarian administration, according to him, is afraid of the union and added: "What the government did isn't surprising, they have no idea because they've never worked."

Public Employee Day

His ridiculous statements became known hours after the decision to eliminate the June 27 holiday, the date on which public employees celebrated State Worker Day, was published in the Official Gazette.

The new decree repeals Article 2 of Law 26.876, so national public sector workers must attend their workplaces as usual this Friday.

Previously, during his press conference, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni justified the measure by saying: "The State isn't a place where one should take a sabbatical or enjoy a privilege that private sector workers lack."

He also emphasized that "that day is paid with the salary of every taxpayer in the country," and stated that "this measure is in line with this government's conception of the State. The Argentina that worshipped statism to the detriment of the private sector is a thing of the past."