Global Rights Index 2014 - Argentina

Country Rating: 4

• Systematic violation of rights

• Workers in countries with the rating of 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers, putting fundamental rights under continuous threat.

Anti-trade union discrimination at nuclear energy company NASA: In August 2013, employees of the Argentinian nuclear energy company (NASA), members of the Asociación de Trabajadores del Estado (ATE), asked to be present as a trade union at the negotiating table. They also accused the company of discrimination, as by excluding the ATE from the negotiations, it is depriving the workers of various job benefits.

Pharmaceutical industry initiates criminal proceedings against trade unionists: The Central de los Trabajadores de la Argentina (CTA) reported, in November 2013, that the pharmaceutical industry has launched an intimidation campaign against various leaders of the Asociación de Agentes de Propaganda Médica (AAPM-CTA), including its General Secretary, Ricardo Peidro, who is also a member of the TUCA Executive Committee.

According to the CTA, employers from the pharmaceutical industry, grouped in the Cámara Argentina de Especialidades Medicinales (CAEMe), Cámara Industrial de Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Argentinos (CILFA) and the Cámara Empresaria de Laboratorios Farmacéuticos (COOPERALA), decided to initiate criminal proceedings against workers and their representatives, in response to protests staged by the AAPM following the employers' refusal to negotiate in good faith within the framework of national collective bargaining with medical sales representatives.

According to the information provided by the CTA, the pharmaceutical industry, through the ROEMMERS Group, decided to initiate criminal proceedings against workers involved in the protests, including leaders of the AAPM who also hold positions in the CTA.

Repression in Tierra del Fuego: In August 2013, in Tierra del Fuego province, the provincial government responded to trade union protests by doggedly pursuing social activists and criminalising social protest by bringing prosecutions against education workers and truck drivers. The conflict stems from the provincial government's non-compliance with the collective agreements, through the absence and delaying tactics of its representatives as well as harassment in the form of sanctions and salary deductions imposed on workers taking affirmative action in defence of the national social security system.

Anti-trade union persecution in Buenos Aires: In June 2013, the Governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Daniel Scioli, threatened to bring a criminal prosecution for extortion and coercion against the General Secretary of the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Educación de Buenos Aires (SUTEBA), Roberto Baradel, simply because he had tried to defend quality public education in the province of Buenos Aires.

Anti-trade union dismissals at Telefónica: On 7 May 2013, workers affiliated to the Unión de Empleados y Técnicos de las Telecomunicaciones (UETTEL) staged a demonstration in front of the headquarters of Elecnor Argentina S.A., a subcontractor of Telefónica, in protest at the "employer's decision to dismiss 300 workers". The trade unionists stated that the measure was an attack on trade union freedom as the workers dismissed were trade union members.

Following pressure and demonstrations by the union, Telefónica Argentina forced Elecnor to renegotiate their contract and to reinstate the workers who had been dismissed.