The Labor reform It is one of the most sensitive topics of the extraordinary sessions of Congress called by the president Javier Mileibut the new head of the ruling bloc in the Senate, Patricia BullrichHe’s willing to do anything to try I will give a statement in the committees this week or next week at the latest, in expedited proceedings This would allow him to approve the project and send it to MPs before the end of the year.
The May Council, made up of representatives of the executive, companies, governors (official ally Alfredo Cornejo from Mendoza), Congress – deputies and senators from PRO and UCR – and trade unions, met this Tuesday and presented its report on the ten points of the May Pact, including labor reform. According to the findings, the project will move into the Senate between tonight and Thursday iProfessional.
The CGT, represented on the council by Gerardo Martínez, decided not to attend the meeting. This signal about the struggle that lies ahead does not discourage Milei’s government, and certainly not Bullrich, who has historically been at odds with union headquarters. From her new seat in the Senate, the former minister wants to take the matter into her own hands from this Wednesday and speed up its treatment.
Labor reform: Patricia Bullrich’s plan seeks an “express” decision in the Senate
Bullrich’s idea is to bring this together Labor and Social Affairs Commission This December 10, the day on which the new senators take office, so that each bloc can name its members and elect the president of the body, a position for which, as it turns out, she does not rule out nominating herself to lead the debate on the initiative from the beginning.
Sources from the ruling bloc pointed this out iProfessional The Bullrich’s most optimistic plan is to give labor reform an explicit procedure in the commission on Thursday and Friday of this week to try to sign the opinion, making it ready for a vote in the chamber. If they don’t get it, they would aim for next week.
Bullrich’s goal is labor reform received the “half sanction” of the Senate by December 30thwhen this first part of the extraordinary events that Milei called comes to an end. “It is very difficult, but he will try”said one of the sources consulted by this media in this regard.
In fact, as I was leaving the council meeting in May, Senator Carolina Losada (UCR) When asked about the labor reform, she pointed out that “in the coming days everyone will certainly analyze the project with their advisors and see what seems good to them and what doesn’t.” But she agreed He did not want to comment “because of all the radicalism.”
However, the ambitious goal that Bullrich has set for himself has to do with his confidence that the voices of the UCR and PRO block will accompany La Libertad Avanza, a report that gives the government one positive prospects in the upper house.
How many votes does the LLA have for labor reform and where will it look for those it lacks?
Coincidentally, LLA has now done so a bloc of 20 senators. If you add the 11 from the UCR and the 4 from the PRO, you would get 35 votes, just two away from the 37 votes that guarantee the quorum and majority required to approve the project..
In any case, the most experienced parliamentary operators point this out They would have to “look for three or four more votes”. The calculation comes not only from the experience of close votes, but also from the new composition of the district, where the LLA will have more seats but also more blocks from which to seek support.
The ruling party’s focus is on the senators who answer to the governors Gustavo Sáenz (Salta), Hugo Passalacqua (Misiones), Rolando Figueroa (Neuquén). They lead among them four senators (Flavia Royón from Salta, Julieta Corroza from Neuquén and the missionaries Carlos Arce and Sonia Rojas Decut), who may be the key to consent.
However, in other areas of the LLA they are more cautious about the goal set by Bullrich to move forward with the ruling this week, recognizing that first the ruling party must win the battle to integrate the commissions, where the President of the Upper House also Victoria Villarruel.
Bullrich’s challenge: the battle with Peronism over commissions
The biggest disadvantage of civil service in this regard is this The commissions are integrated into the venue according to the balance of power between the blocs and Unión por la Patria continues to be the largest room with 24 seats (not counting the four from Federal Conviction who threatened to leave).
As long as they were the first minority, the Peronists would have done it Right to keep more seats on the Commission. This will be the first obstacle that Bullrich will have to overcome in order to speed up the signing of the opinion and bring it to a vote in plenary before the end of the year.
Last year when LLA had only 7 seats and UP 33, Villarruel reached an agreement with the 39 non-Kirchnerist senators to distribute the majority of commission seats among them. and to prevent Kirchnerism from controlling them by their numbers, a controversial step because it was tied to an interpretation of the regulations criticized by K.
For these hours, In the Senate, they affirm that the governing parties “will do everything in their power to advance labor reform, so that last year’s events in Villarruel can serve as a precedent that we can use now.” How the debate begins on Thursday this week will depend on this fight.
The Senate Labor and Social Commission has 17 seats, including that of the President. The ruling party would need to fill nine of those seats with libertarians and senators from the PRO, UCR or friendly provincial blocs if it wants to speed up decision-making this week or next.
The most important and controversial points of labor reform
Labor reform is the most sensitive issue on Milei’s agenda, not only because of the opposition of the CGT and a large part of the unions, but also because of the precedents in the Senate itself. The last law in this sense was passed in 2000 at the request of the government of Fernando de la Rúa and ended in scandal because of alleged bribes paid to Justicialist senators for its approval, which has never been fully proven.
The project that the government is now promoting has as Central axes The Flexibility of hiring and firing arrangementsthe redefinition of the calculation basis for the Compensation in addition to Creating an alternative system to terminate employment and limit the power of unions. This is logically one of the points that creates the most tension with the trade union centers.
At the end of the last May council meeting, Losada was interviewed by the press the abolition of the mandatory solidarity contribution from the unions. This is an automatic discount given to employees, even if they are affiliated. The senator indicated that this would be suppressed, but other versions before the official presentation of the project raised doubts about whether the government would move forward on the unions’ “boxes” but not hinder the debate.
The initiative eliminates the ultra-activity of collective agreements, i.e. the automatic extension after they expire. The project stipulates that they will only remain in force in these cases the normative clauses (working conditions), however, are not binding clauses, except by agreement of the parties.
In addition, a prevalence of agreements with a smaller scope (per company) is found compared to agreements with a larger scope (per activity), another point that is strongly opposed by unions and which can have an impactamong other things in joint negotiations.
These points have led many senators to warn that an “express debate” over the Labor reform and that everything will most likely remain in place until February, regardless of whether the commissions begin discussions this month. Despite it, Patricia Bullrich is committed to the aim of speeding up the signing of the opinion in order to give it a half-sanction and pay Javier Milei, which would undoubtedly be a remarkable political success in a chamber as difficult as the Senate.
About The Author
