Argentina: Labor unions turn to UN human rights protection mechanisms in the face of persecution and repression of labor unions

JOINT PRESS RELEASE

The Association of State Workers (ATE) and the Autonomous Workers’ Confederation (CTA-A), with the support of CETIM, denounce systematic violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association, and due process under the administration of President Javier Milei.

City of Córdoba, Geneva, September 25, 2026. The Association of State Workers of Córdoba (ATE) and the Autonomous Workers’ Confederation of Argentina, Córdoba (CTA-A) have formally filed a complaint with the United Nations human rights protection mechanisms in response to the growing pattern of repression, judicial persecution, and criminalization of social protest under the administration of President Javier Milei.

Since Milei took office in December 2023, Argentina has witnessed a dramatic escalation of austerity policies, including massive budget cuts in education, health care, pensions, infrastructure, and social programs. These measures have deepened the socioeconomic crisis, raised poverty rates, and led to mass layoffs of public sector workers. However, the organizations filing the complaint denounce a deliberate offensive against the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the Argentinian people.

Since the National March Against Hunger on April 5, 2023 (even before Milei took office), police forces in the province of Córdoba have carried out operations to identify, film, and monitor union leaders and protesters. This pattern has intensified during the current administration, with documented violations including: arbitrary detentions and torture, judicial persecution, and other flagrant violations of international human rights standards, in particular, those regarding the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, which Argentina has ratified.

These violations cannot be understood in isolation. President Milei has described Article 14 bis of the Argentine Constitution, which guarantees labor rights, pensions, and social security, as “a cancer,” announcing his intention to repeal it. His governement has adopted rhetoric that denies and downplays state terrorism during the dictatorship (1976-1983), contributing to an authoritarian drift that threatens the foundations of the democratic system.

In light of this situation, the ATE, the CTA-A, and the CETIM are calling for the intervention of UN human rights mechanisms to immediately put an end to the criminalization of social protest and the judicial persecution of social leaders and human rights defenders.

Press release in PDF version: https://www.cetim.ch/wp-content/uploads/Press-release_Trade-unions-Argentina_Sept2026.pdf

Contacts:
Raffaele Morgantini, CETIM Representative to the UN, raffaele@cetim.ch
Federico Giuliani, Secretary General of ATE and CTA-Córdoba, ranogiuliani@gmail.com