Public sector employees in Argentina take to the streets to protest the mass dismissal of the Miley government

About 15,000 workers recruited from the national administration were affected

Luis Rubio/AFPState employees protest in front of the country's labor secretariat against state layoffs, in Buenos Aires, on April 3, 2024

Public employees Argentina They protested this Wednesday (3) against the mass dismissals of the government Javier Miley, which affected 15,000 contract workers in the national administration, brought the government within the scope of adaptation measures. The dismissed workers attempted to enter their workplaces, where an intensive security operation was launched to prevent them from gaining access. “We have no other alternative but to resist this organized fight and continue this fight because we know that this is arbitrary,” ATE delegate Erica Almeida said at the impromptu meeting, in the entrance hall of the National Anti-Discrimination Institute’s offices. Amid posters and chants, some confronted the police at the door of the Ministry of Labor.

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Most of the layoffs were notified during Holy Week, the holiday of which extended until Tuesday in Argentina, said the Association of State Workers (ATE), which called for an urgent plenary session to determine the measures. Last week, Miley announced that he plans to cut national public administration staff by 70,000 positions from a total of just over 332,000 positions, according to the latest report from the Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC), published in February. Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said during a press conference, “The final number of contracts that have not been renewed is close to 15,000, as part of the work we are doing to reduce state spending.” The layoffs affected workers whose contracts were renewed periodically and were not updated after they expired in March.

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Miley claims that these layoffs are part of a plan to reach a zero deficit in 2024. Ultra-liberals call for budget cuts on the one hand, and spending liquidation on the other, to contain inflation that is approaching 280% annually, with declining purchasing and consumer power. Indeed, the presidential goal of zero deficit exceeds the requirements of the International Monetary Fund, with which Argentina has debts of $44 billion (223 billion Brazilian reals at current prices).