The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) condemns Argentine President Javier Milei’s new “Exceptional Regime for the National Merchant Marine” as a reckless act of deregulation that jeopardises national sovereignty and crushes fundamental labour rights.
The decree reclassifies maritime and inland navigation as an “essential service,” severely curbing maritime worker’ right to strike in blatant breach of Argentina’s Constitution and ILO Convention 87.
The decree will also allow shipowners to temporarily strip vessels of the Argentine flag and register them abroad, expand permits for foreign-flagged ships, and scrap nationality requirements for crews.
“Together, these measures will trigger a race to the bottom on wages and conditions and potentially wipe out thousands of skilled Argentine maritime workers’ jobs,” said ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton.
The ITF denounces this move as a direct attack on workers’ rights and national sovereignty.”
ITF maritime affiliates within the Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers (CATT) have unanimously rejected the decree, warning that it “flings the door wide open to foreign interests, dismantles the national maritime industry, and puts Argentina’s sovereignty on the auction block.”
CATT has denounced this violation of the constitutional right to strike faced by transport workers. "In our sector, classified as "essential", the restriction on the exercise of this right constitutes prohibition, which is applied arbitrarily, without respecting the minimum guarantees or the legal duties of the State," they warned.
Edgar Díaz, ITF Regional Secretary for Latin America, said: “From day one this government has targeted transport workers. The ITF and the global union movement stand shoulder to shoulder with our Argentine brothers and sisters."
We will deploy every legal, industrial, and political tool available to overturn this decree.”
