The CGT went to court to try to stop the DNU limiting the right to strike.

The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) has filed a lawsuit to try to stop the government's emergency decree limiting the right to strike . The union center filed a constitutional protection action seeking a declaration of the DNU's constitutional invalidity.

Last Wednesday, May 21, the government published a decree seeking to expand the activities considered essential, including freight and passenger transportation, education, and telecommunications services. It also imposed an obligation on them to guarantee the provision of 75% of services in the event of a strike. In practice, this means limiting the right to strike.

Furthermore, one of the articles of the decree creates the category of activities considered of transcendental importance , which covers a wide variety of sectors and imposes the obligation to maintain a minimum of 50% of the benefits during strike days . Among the activities covered by this parameter are the main industrial sectors (food, metallurgy, and construction), the operation of banks, commercial and gastronomic establishments, and all sectors linked to exports.

The co-leader of the CGT, Héctor Daer, had met at the Casa Rosada with the chief of staff, Guillermo Francos, under the formal pretext of discussing a change in the benefits provided at the Naval Hospital, although he had told him in advance that the union would be taking the matter to court at the beginning of the week.

Among the grounds for its appeal, the CGT argued that the President's DNU restrictively regulates the right to strike , arbitrarily expanding the list of activities considered "essential services" and imposing minimum levels of service (from 75% to 50%) that, they argued, effectively make the legitimate exercise of strike measures impossible.

Furthermore, the union emphasized that the measure violates Article 14 bis of the National Constitution, ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, and other constitutional norms that guarantee freedom of association and the right to strike.

Furthermore, they targeted the instrument used, the DNU. "It was issued without meeting the requirements of necessity and urgency required by Article 99, paragraph 3, of the National Constitution, in the context of the normal functioning of the National Congress. Reform of the legal system of strikes cannot be implemented by decree," the CGT pointed out.

They also argued that the right to strike is essential to balancing power in collective bargaining. "Its limitation weakens unions' capacity for action and entrenches unequal labor relations," they added.

For these reasons, they requested a precautionary measure of non-innovation to immediately suspend the application of Articles 2 and 3 of Decree 340/2025.

The labor union maintained that their goal with this is to "avoid irreparable harm to the labor movement and preserve the full exercise of union rights while the substance of the issue is resolved."