Argentina labor leaders warn of national strike over contested reform

Union leader Alfredo Beliz addressed a gathering of the Federal Merchants Block in Buenos Aires, criticizing the recent labor reform as a source of job precarity, weakened employment contracts and a decline in workers’ purchasing power. He argued the reform has failed to create jobs and threatens the pension system, urging a rapid recovery of real wages to revive domestic consumption and production.

At the same time, a coalition of 62 Peronist trade‑union organizations issued a national action plan that includes the possibility of 24‑hour and 48‑hour general strikes if the government does not open a dialogue. The document, signed by senior union officials, denounces the erosion of workers’ real wages, closures of small and medium enterprises, and inadequate pension adjustments, and calls for the protection of local industry, the reactivation of public investment and respect for collective bargaining.

Both groups are pressing the authorities for immediate negotiations, warning that continued inaction could lead to broader social and economic disruption across Argentina.