Argentine Workers to Hold a Day of Struggle on January 15th

On Tuesday, the Association of State Workers (ATE) resolved to call for a "day of struggle and mobilization" on January 15th, following waves of dismissals announced by the administration of President Javier Milei.

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"It is the good Argentine men and women who are being left without jobs by the decision of the goverment, which should guarantee social peace. With these layoffs, it is doing nothing in that regard," denounced Rodolfo Aguiar, the ATE secretary.

"The Milei administration's insensitivity is absolute. They are leaving thousands of families on the streets. They are business people who have no idea about the real needs of the people," he said early in the morning to accommodate an urgent session of the union.

The alert was triggered on December 26 when Decree 84/2023 was published in the Official Gazette, announcing the dismissal of "all workers who entered after January 1, 2023," with the exception of those falling under the quota for disability and transgender individuals.

The text reads, "Pot banging now! In front of the Kirchner Cultural Center. Enough of mass layoffs! To Milei and his administration we shout: Never again homeless families! Apparently Milei confused between caste and workers... Who would have thought?"

"We are being governed by businesswomen and businessmen who may not know the rules governing public administration... The Milei administration claims that contracts are not being renewed, but the truth is that these are covert layoffs," Aguiar said.

"Tthese are unjustified dismissals because these are workers performing essential tasks to ensure the functioning of the State," he pointed out, recalling that conservatives seek to discredit public employees in order to implement their policies without social resistance.

On Tuesday, the ATE's National Center of Retirees also met to vote and define a day of protest on January 10th to demand action against all measures affecting their retirement benefits and to reject any attempt to privatize the pension system.