Following the disruption caused by the strikes in Argentina, a coalition of Argentine longshore and oilseed industry unions reached an agreement to end a three-week-long strike.
Specifically, the industry body for Argentine agricultural exporters, Cámara de la Industria Aceitera de la República Argentina, informed that it had reached an agreement with the unions in a meeting brokered by Argentina’s Ministry of Labor.
According to the deal, those who worked during the country’s pandemic shutdown will get a bonus of $1,000, a 35% increase for their 2020 salary, a 25% salary increase for 2021 and another salary adjustment in August 2021 that will take account of the consumer price index.
The adjustments aims to address the impacts of runaway inflation on port workers’ salaries. Inflation has skyrocketed in Argentina over the past several years, hitting 26% in 2017, 34 percent in 2018 and 37% in 2019.
The local newspaper El Cronista commented that it is the first time that the three main unions in the sector all downed tools and negotiated as a bloc.
To remind, the tensions and the strike impacted the country’s exports, at a time when the government is trying to get Argentina out of recession.
