Position of organized anarchism in Argentina, March 2026 ---- The labor law reform championed by the Milei government , as we know, does not represent a legal modernization of labor law, but rather is the centerpiece of a comprehensive scheme to exploit and precarize employment , comparable only to what the last military dictatorship implemented. It directly benefits employers (as Caputo stated when he called on employers' associations to welcome the law) by eliminating or restricting historical tools of industrial action. Far from creating stable and regular jobs, it provides legal instruments to dismiss workers and further destabilize their employment relationships.
The economic model being imposed by those in power is by no means aimed at creating new jobs, but rather directly benefits large agricultural export companies and transnational commodity corporations, which employ a negligible number of workers compared to the massive layoffs in the country's declining manufacturing industries. Specifically, we are seeing how the drastic decline in consumption and the indiscriminate opening to imports since Milei took office have led to the closure of 21,339 businesses particularly in the textile, food, and automotive sectors. As we observe, faced with the hollowing out and closure of companies, large corporations are redirecting their investments into the agricultural export and energy sectors, as well as financial speculation, or are leaving the country altogether, abandoning hundreds of thousands of workers, as happened in recent days with the Fate workers. In this context, we are witnessing a deepening shift towards a greater reprimanding of the country's economic and productive structure.
One could also say that this course of action enjoys broad consensus among large segments of the political class, the governors, and, of course, the National Congress, which has become a mere rubber stamp for the president. Aside from the legislative circus of shouting and heroic speeches, the opposition is simply legitimizing the institution and the instrument that will worsen the lives of millions of people across the country, while the political class lives off millionaire salaries.
They strike from above on multiple fronts simultaneously.
On the other hand, it is striking how the Milei government is employing the same tactic as Macri a decade ago: simultaneously pushing forward its anti-popular measures on various fronts in labor, the environment, criminal law, and social welfare to hinder a decisive response from popular organizations, exploiting the lack of comprehensive coordination within the popular resistance. The repeal of the Glacier Law or the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles would, in any case, have warranted a large-scale mobilization of the population.
In conclusion, the importance of this law to the government must be emphasized, as well as the haste with which it is to be passed as quickly as possible. The draft legislation received little publicity in the mass media and was even misrepresented. While every professional association and every sector of the labor market was hastily informed about the implications of the law, the absence and lack of grassroots work by most unions over the past decades became painfully apparent.
ON THE ROAD TO LEGAL CHAOS IN EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
In the days leading up to the debate on the bill in the House of Representatives, we observed a handful of journalists and panelists reacting with outrage after some articles of the reform became public, revealing the deeply regressive nature of the draft.
As we have already stated in previous comments, the law leads to normative chaos in the relations between employees and employers, in which the power of employers becomes even more apparent , guarantees are abolished, and the instability of employment relationships becomes the norm for all employees.
Key aspects of the legal chaos that the government and employers intend to create with this law include the constant renegotiation of collective agreements and the precedence of company agreements .
TERRIFYING FIGURES ON THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRISIS
As always, the consequences of these policies fall on the shoulders of the oppressed class. According to the Mirador de la Actualidad del Trabajo y la Economía (MATE), private sector wages have stagnated for a year, and since the Milei government took office, they have fallen by a total of 6% (in August 2025, they were 21% below the 2015 level), while public sector wages fell by 20% over the same period. This means that every private sector worker has suffered a loss of almost 2 million pesos since December 2023, while every public sector employee has lost 10 million pesos.
On the other hand, although officially around 6.9%, unemployment masks a massive precariousness: 38.2% of wage earners are in informal employment, without access to basic rights and holding more than one job; multiple employment has increased by 12% in the first half of 2026 alone (40% in the last eight years). This reflects increasing poverty, which is further exacerbated by higher unemployment and exploitation.
Overall, it is estimated that since Milei took office, the transfer of income from the working class to concentrated capital has amounted to approximately 48.8 trillion pesos .
RESISTANCE GROWS FROM BELOW
Even though the general strike of February 19th was a success in terms of high participation (reportedly between 70 and 90%), the paralysis imposed by the main, compliant union leaderships is more than obvious. They are trying to contain conflicts in order to retain control over the union funds.
The results show that the large-scale industrial action of recent weeks - such as the general strike or the mass mobilization of February 11 - was insufficient to halt the progress of the labor law. This underscores the continued decisive influence of subservient leadership: firstly, the core group from the healthcare, trade, and food sectors, and secondly, the group from UOCRA, UPCN, and Obras Sanitarias, which act as veritable dams against conflict.
Nevertheless, a militant pole has formed around the Union Front of Unity (FreSU) , consisting, among others, of UOM, Aceiteros, ATE, Papeleros, the two CTAs, Docentes, and parts of the CATT. This union pole transcends the three central unions while simultaneously maintaining a healthy class independence from parties and governments . However, this growing space has not yet matured enough to surpass the dynamism of the former, remaining limited to sporadic strikes and tentative mobilizations.
In addition to this difficulty, we are once again witnessing how a segment of the party-political left prioritizes the leading role of its political apparatuses, operating under the logic of an "enlightened vanguard," thereby marginalizing the role of trade unions and works councils. This is achieved, for example, by occupying the front rows at demonstrations or by splitting joint actions at crucial moments. The logic suggests that resistance to labor legislation must be led by the trade unions themselves. Furthermore, for a worker who has not yet joined the struggle, a workers' mobilization is certainly far more accessible than an action led by political parties, whose leaders are almost all unemployed.
On the other hand, as a consequence of this long-standing gap between the rank and file and the union representatives and since many comrades have decided to join the struggle some provinces have seen experiences with self-organized mobilizations that, while massive, are simultaneously uncoordinated, lacking perspective and planning. In some cases, they have even been marked by a certain confusion stemming from nationalist ideas, where attempts have been made to link the struggle for wages with the demands of repressive forces. At this point, we reaffirm once again regardless of who leads them the trade union as a genuine instrument of the working class. An instrument with which the most important achievements of the labor movement have been won.
Strengthening constitutional complaints through direct action
Given this situation, the task is clear and urgent: we cannot leave our defense to mere legality, as some union leaders are attempting to do. Legal challenges are pending against the reform and against certain articles of it that border on the scandalous, such as the deregulation of ship personnel, the attack on collective bargaining agreements, and payment in kind. However, these legal remedies must be underpinned by direct action . The lessons of history show that state justice alone does not rule in favor of the oppressed, but only through social conflict.
SOLIDARITY WITH THE OCCUPATIONS AND THE DISCHARGED
In this bleak environment, and as in 2001, given the increase in mass layoffs and company closures, the occupation of factories and workplaces is developing into a legitimate form of resistance . The occupations initiated by metalworkers in Tierra del Fuego or tire workers at FATE, as well as the occupation of courthouses by judicial employees in Buenos Aires, express a tension at the limits of legalism and attempt at least tactically to limit the advance of employers. They politicize the conflicts and demonstrate that direct action and grassroots-organized power are the inevitable response of the workers. Of course, this action does not resolve the fundamental issue, not least because running a company in the midst of an industrial crisis is extremely complex in this context (whether due to the payment chain, the production location, or the financing of raw materials). Nevertheless , it makes it possible to unite the affected workers in a collective act of resistance .
BUNDLING FORCES FOR AUTONOMOUS TRADE UNION COORDINATIONS
In this context, and to ensure the continued growth of resistance, it is necessary to contribute forces to union coordinations such as FreSU or the Rosario Union Coordination , which united at the ATE General Assembly in October 2025 - both spaces characterized by a class-independent stance towards political parties and candidates of any kind . In times of personality cults and union egos, a primary task of anarchist militancy is to build bridges between unions, bring together disparate sectors, and expand coordinating bodies - from the top down, but above all from the bottom up, between the grassroots.
In addition to the nationwide protests against the labor law reform and its consequences, the fight for wages, working conditions, and job security must be intensified in every sector of the economy and in every province . Governors also bear responsibility for the plight of the population.
DO NOT NEED TO NEGLECTE THE INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC FIGHT, STRENGTHEN GROUNDWORK
Nevertheless, we must not neglect the specific struggles of each individual sector at present, because only in this way can we gather strength and convince our comrades of the necessity to grow as an organized social force in this context . Confidence in our own strength must be restored through immediate and sectoral achievements. It is time to further expand the organized base, to reach one comrade after another - in the times ahead, no one will be expendable.
OAC - Organización Anarquista de Córdoba
OAT - Organización Anarquista de Tucuman
ORA - Organización Resistencia Anarquista (Buenos Aires)
OASC - Organización Anarquista de Santa Cruz
La Tordo Negro - organizing an acquisition process
Organización Impulso Anarquista (Neuquén-Río Negro)
FAR - Federación Anarquista de Rosario
https://www.dieplattform.org/2026/03/26/die-von-oben-setzen-die-reformen-durch-von-unten-waechst-der-widerstand/#more-3559
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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