In full tension with the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) over the Labor reformThe government has a debt level of almost 37,000 million pesos with the union social welfare agency for reimbursement of subsidized medication and treatments.
The amount owed by the government is around 60,000 million pesos last October, in the run-up to the elections, An agreement was reached with the unions on a three-tariff system between this month and December. But so far, just over a third of the promised funds have been paid: 23,000 million pesos.
In the executive they assured that, although the intention of the Minister of Health, Mario Lugones, It was not possible to leave the debt “at zero” until the end of the year. They claimed that the unions’ demand concerns the processing of 2.3 million applications from different years, including before 2021, and that each of these files must be checked manually, which they say leads to delays in payments.
The government vehemently asserts that the delay in payment deadlines “has nothing to do with the conflict with the CGT over labor reform”. They reiterate that this is a “historic litigation,” with “nearly six years of debt” from claims that have been ongoing since 2019.
At Casa Rosada they emphasize that “so many requests are being examined individually”, that the process that began in October will continue to progress and that the goal is to “pay everything”. They added that the work will be done “in batches” and that “if there is significant volume, it will be paid for.” They did not explain when these batches will be reactivated and why they were discontinued after the first payment.
In any case, they insisted that there was a willingness to pay because it was “a legitimate debt” and that “everything would be handled before the Superintendency of Health Services (SSS)”, the body responsible for the control of social and prepaid work, which is within the sphere of influence of Lugones, who worked there Claudio Adrian Stivelman.
As published THE NATION The agreement between Lugones and the unions was concluded last October Distribute the total amount to all medical care providers in three steps who submitted their files one after the other.
The first payment had to be made before the end of October and the remaining two between November and December. And the negotiations also envisaged a ceasefire in the conflict in the final months of 2025, which the CGT categorically rejected.
In any case, the relationship between the CGT and the government has been strained in recent weeks on every detail that goes beyond labor reform.
Unionism was represented in the May Council, where part of the text on “labour modernization” was worked on Gerardo MartínezChairman of the Construction Workers Union (Uocra) as representative. To express his discomfort with the final text presented by the government, Martínez was not present at the Casa Rosada on the day of the presentation.
The money to settle the debts with the social works union comes from the Solidarity Redistribution Fund (FSR), the financing of which comes from the compulsory contribution deducted from registered employees’ monthly salaries.
A percentage of this fund was transferred to a Frente de Todos account during the administration of the Frente de Todos National Bank to generate interest and ask them to use the money for subsidized services, such as: B. expensive benefits or disability benefits. When Alberto Fernández left the presidency, this money remained there and has not been used since, according to a union member aware of the negotiations with the SSS. They calculate in the CGT that there could be around $300,000 million there.
Given this withholding of funds contributed by workers, the government reiterates that it has processed claims files dating back ten years. “This whole situation has been organized and it has been decided to make the payments. This comes from before and continues continuously, but without a date.”said the sources consulted in the libertarian ranks.
This Thursday, the CGT trade unionists mobilized in the Plaza de Mayo and threatened a general strike in front of the Casa Rosada. Shortly afterwards, the ruling party announced the postponement of the debate on labor reform until Februarywhich was seen in the trade union movement as a sign that they will now have more time to negotiate.
However, in the ruling party and the opposition, this shift was interpreted as a consequence the failed budget vote and renewed tensions with allies.
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