Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Argentina (Ratification: 1956)

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the new Act on Trade Union Associations (No. 23551) promulgated on 14 April 1988 contains measures for protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, unfair labour practices and acts of interference on the part of the employer, both at the time of taking up employment and in the course of the employment relationship, accompanied by civil remedies and penal sanctions.

Article 4. The Committee has taken note of the comments made by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) raising issues related to collective bargaining, in a communication dated 9 March 1987 and the information forwarded by the Government in communications dated 29 September 1987 and 16 February 1988, and of the Government's report. The Government indicates that it has finally carried out its promise to re-establish in full the system of free negotiation between the parties, thereby implementing the collective bargaining system. To this end, during the period 1 July 1986 to 30 June 1988, the system remained in force whereby it was possible for the parties signatory to collective labour agreements periodically to update the remuneration rates established in these agreements, through the bilateral negotiation system. In order to safeguard the purchasing power of wage earners, and to make up for the lag due to the high rate of inflation, periodic automatic wage adjustments were made to the remuneration agreed upon by the parties.

In addition, the Government indicates that the National Congress adopted the Bills regulating the collective bargaining system, with the result that Acts Nos. 23545 and 23546 of 22 December 1987 were promulgated, definitively re-establishing this system on the basis of free discussions between the representative associations of employers and workers in each sector. Act No. 23545 brings back into force, with certain modifications, Act No. 14250 of 1953 which had ceased to be applied by the de facto Government. The amendments to the above Act include section 1 which expressly extends the collective agreement system of state enterprises to state companies or limited liability companies in which the State holds a majority interest and State financial institutions and bodies coming under the national public administration which had already negotiated collective agreements prior to the entry into force of the Act. Act No. 23546 sets out the procedural rules for collective bargaining and specifies that the initiative for negotiations rests with the parties concerned, that is, the representative associations of the employers and workers on condition that they must notify the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of their decision.

The Committee notes this development with interest, but observes that section 3 of Act No. 23545 specifies that an essential prerequisite for approval shall be that the collective agreement is free of any clauses which infringe the norms of public order or standards issued in the protection of the general interest; nor shall the entry into force of the agreement significantly affect the overall economic situation or the situation of certain branches of activity, or result in a serious deterioration in the standard of living of consumers. In this connection, the Committee recalls that a system of official approval is acceptable in so far as the approval can only be refused on grounds of form and where the clauses of a collective agreement do not conform to the minimum standards set out in the labour law. The public authorities should, as a general rule, refrain from intervening to alter the content of freely concluded collective agreements. Such intervention could only be justified for major economic and social reasons of general interest. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the scope of this provision and state whether any collective agreements have been refused approval under it.

The Government has undertaken to extend the collective bargaining system to the public administration. Under the Act, new legislation is to be issued within 365 days, regulating the application of this system to the public service.

The Committee takes note of the detailed information supplied by the Government, in particular, on the development of the collective bargaining system which is based on free negotiation between the parties concerned.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in the application of Article 4 of the Convention.