Argentine President Javier Milei has resumed his agenda of reducing the state to a minimum after the Christmas break. In his third week in office, the ultra-liberal president signed a decree terminating the contracts of civil servants who joined last year. The government estimates that “more than 5,000” are affected, while other sources, such as the Association of State Workers (ATE), put the number at over 7,000. The number could rise as the government will also review the contracts of public sector workers employed before January 1, 2023 in the next 90 days and unions are on alert.
The decree published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette establishes that state worker contracts signed from January 1, 2023 will not be renewed. The measure provides for some exceptions: for example, workers participating in “regulated quotas” are legally exempt from other types of special protection, such as: B. People with disabilities or personnel deemed “essential” to a jurisdiction. The text also stipulates that the remaining contracts will be subject to a “comprehensive review” in the next 90 days.
In his first speech as president, Milei had already expected that the adjustments promised by his government would be paid for by the state and not the private sector. The cuts began with the Cabinet of Ministers, when the right-wing extremists limited the number of departments to nine, half the number of departments of the previous government. The Minister of Economy Luis Caputo announced the reduction of state employment as part of the first economic measures. The decree published this Tuesday is another step in the government's roadmap and aims to “achieve a better functioning of public administration”.
The Argentine public sector employs a total of almost 3.5 million people, a tenth of whom are in the national administration, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Labor. According to a report by the consultancy Ieral – Fundación Mediterránea, the latter's personnel expenditure amounts to 2.2% of GDP, a percentage that has decreased since 2015, when it was 3.3% of GDP. According to this analysis, public employment participation in the budget is “similar to Scandinavian countries and the opposite of Japan and Germany.”
The Association of Civil Servants (ATE) described the decree as an “aggression” against these workers, noting in a statement that public servants “perform essential tasks in all cases.” “No one expects us to accept a single dismissal,” warned Rodolfo Aguiar, general secretary of the Association of State Workers (ATE), in a statement released by the organization, in which he warned that the union intended to continue its “fights.” to go deeper.” to plan”.
The demand will be negotiated this Wednesday in a call from the country's trade union centers, which will also demand that the decree signed by Milei a week ago with 300 reforms aimed at dissolving the Argentine state be stopped. Last Wednesday, the president presented another decree of necessity and urgency that repeals laws, abolishes dozens of government regulations, allows the privatization of public companies such as the oil company YPF and opens the door to dollar transactions. There is also an impetus to make the labor market and the health system more flexible.
The demands of workers, who believe the Milei adjustment affects the most vulnerable populations, come in a climate of tension marked by a new protocol against road closures. The plan was announced by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich almost simultaneously with the economic measures and was first put into action on December 20, when tens of thousands of people protested amid tight security measures.