ILPC 2026

The end of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner government (2003-2015) and the assumption of Mauricio Macri Presidency in 2015 establishes the beginning of a political and economic era of constant transformations for Argentine trade unions. In this context of changing government and the orientation of economic and labour policies, the debates about the place occupied by unionism in the labor market and in Argentine political system (Torre: 1989, Armelino: 2004, 2015, Etchemendy : 2015) arise once again. Between 2015 and 2017, the first stage of the Cambiemos administration, the dynamic of labour conflicts focuses on the dispute of trade unions and other labour organizations defending job positions and the continuity of labour rights and institutions.  

Considering changes in the structure of opportunities (at the economic, political and legal-regulatory levels) in Argentina during the period 2015-2017, this paper summarizes the debates about union representation and participation mechanisms of working class in their organizations taking into account studies about the corporate character and the political nature of unionism (Murillo: 1997, 2005, Diana Menéndez: 2007, Ghigliani, Grigera and Schneider: 2012, Varela: 2013), in other words, tensions between the economic and the political struggles in unionism.

The purpose of this paper is to study the mechanisms of representation of Argentine trade unions - confederations (third level trade unions)- from relational dynamic with the national government and the governing party in the period 2015-2017 based on the strategies of action and union organization.

Taking into account the word “change” as a key word in Macri’s political discourse, in what way this change of political scenario in Argentina after the presidential election in 2015, stresses, redefines or reinforces traditional forms of trade union representation? What are the effects produced on the union representation mechanisms of CGT, CTA-T and CTA-A after the change of government in 2015? What are the forms of representation of argentina union confederations in the period 2015-2017?

To answer all of these questions, there are three main points of analysis chosen for this debate: political-union identities and union legal model; Trade union representation and political exchange; Mechanisms of representation and union democracy.

In the first part, there is a presentation of the construction of political-union identities of the labour centrals and a subsequent analysis of the relationship between trade unionism and the State and present the characteristics that define the Argentine Trade Union Models. The second part presents the forms adopted by the mechanisms of political exchange between the trade union centrals and the government from 2015 to 2017. In the final section, internal dynamics of the trade union centers are analysed from the moment the change of government begins: the relationship between leaders, union memberships and the dynamics between old and new forms of representation of workers interests.