As a result of the struggle to eradicate off-the-books labor and other irregularities in the dairy industry, ATILRA has succeeded in regulating the situation of several dozens workers in the Yatasto plant, owned by a member of the Argentine government.

Héctor Ponce

According to a recent study by the Universidad Católica Argentina, “four million Argentine workers will never retire because their employers are not making social security payments”. These are workers who have no social benefits of any kind, no social security or health benefits and no retirement scheme, and who earn less than the minimum wage.

The report also reveals that 39 percent of the economically active population is currently employed in the informal labor market, either as off-the-books wage earners or as self-employed workers.

Combating off-the-books employment is one of the main goals of the Argentine Association of Dairy Industry Workers (ATILRA), and is a leading priority of the union’s national steering committee that took office in January 2002. Since that date the union has been actively fighting off-the-books labor, stepping up actions and initiatives aimed at both the Government and employers.

The latest action was focused on the Yatasto company in Navarro, Province of Buenos Aires. This company is owned by Luciano Di Tella, son of the former Foreign Affairs Minister of the Carlos Menem Administration (now deceased), and himself a former Dairy Policy Director and current Undersecretary of Regional Economy Development at the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to Oscar Horacio Dedoménico, general secretary of the union’s General Rodríguez division, “Working conditions at the plant are appalling, workers don’t get paid for overtime, and if they so much as protest, they’re fired; moreover there are workers hired off-the-books, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed with ATILRA is ignored.” As for this last issue, it should be noted that of the 53 workers employed by the plant, only 16 are covered by the ATILRA agreement, the rest are included under other agreements, which, like the Commerce sector agreement, establish lower wages.

To protest this situation, on May 12 and 13 the union held mass mobilizations with the participation of over one thousand workers. After intense negotiations, during which all work at the plant was halted, on the night of Thursday, May 13, management finally reached an agreement with the union.

For the month of June, ATILRA has planned a series of mobilizations to denounce situations similar to the one in Yatasto. “We’ll continue with our ongoing and determined efforts, using all the means at our disposal to combat off-the-books employment,” ATILRA secretary general Héctor Ponce said.