Collective labor law

Concept

They are the relationships that exist between the professional groups of one and another sector, whose purpose is not the accomplishment of the labor fact or it is not exhausted in it, this tends to dictate the norms in which it is to be developed (collective agreements) and the ways of solving the conflicts that arise, and also that of the issues that are linked to the development of the various institutions they represent.

The parties enjoy an autonomy that is the basis of the life of the relationship.

It is necessary to distinguish the various fields in which collective relations occur: negotiations, conflicts or structuring of their own institutions. Therefore they comprise:

Constitution of their organizations
1. Company Professional association of workers or employers Second degree
Structures and means of self-defense

Regarding the normative aspect of collective activity, legal regulation constitutes a minimum that cannot be altered by collective bargaining, the state norm establishes certain conditions and only once they are fulfilled can the parties adopt the measures that concern their self-defense.

Regarding the organization of the groups, the autonomy of the will has a wide framework of action. Once the minimums established by law are assured, its members enjoy freedom as regards the structuring of the respective organization.

In the field of workers (unions) there is a special rule that establishes basic lines of organization and operation regarding the subject (except for their obligation to register), which is why they are governed by common law.

The panorama of collective relations within a community is completed with the action of the State that acts as arbitrator between the parties.

Collaboration modes

In the field of labor relations, certain conflicts are frequently highlighted, and there is also a wide scope for collaboration.

In this sector of relations that integrates social reality, not only do centrifugal forces act, but also centripetal forces that lead the different actors to understand that they act as parts of the same reality and with related interests.

Social progress can only be achieved by the triumph of a sector in which social reality is divided (which presents various sectors with multiple inter-reciprocal influences). In this way, it is considered that obtaining the annihilation of the "other" exploiter achieves a regime of greater justice than the current one.

This concept allows us to appreciate the existence of forms of collaboration at the company level by those who work in it and those who run it.

Companies due to the effects of technological development have been changing their structure and also the relationships between those who integrate them. This change prevents a single person from playing the role of captain, which has been replaced by the so-called technostructure (group of professionals who are in charge of running the company), which has generated greater awareness of the role it plays. the worker in the company.

In recent times, the enormous trade union role that has made the man to be a real participant in social and company life, with the right to take some intervention in its own management, is appreciated.

Profit sharing: through collective agreements, a greater increase in the company's profitability share is frequently achieved, constituting a way to motivate the worker, who is granted non-negotiable company shares for a period of time, facilitating the capitalization of workers. In this way, the worker is considered as an active member of the company and not as an object that only responds to orders. Functional participation: tends to achieve recognition in the work of the worker as a human being with the capacity to interpret directives and develop his spirit of creation.. Participation in management: tends to recognize the worker the right to a participation in management, which can be:
1. Only in terms of informationConsultationDecision
  
  In a) and b) the role of the staff delegates stands out, who in Argentina constitute the link in the worker-company relationship; and that of the factory commissions or committee (made up of workers, staff delegates or other), especially when they only have information or mixed functions.
Co-management: it is the most developed level of participation. The representation of the workers has intervention in the decision-making body of the company
1. In the minority (with some "workers" directors) On equal terms with the representatives of capital.
Self-management: here the owner of the goods disappears, the management is left to the workers themselves. The work cooperative is a typical example of self-management.

Representation of workers

The staff delegate who is appointed by all workers in the sector invests the representation of those before:

The employer The administrative labor authority The trade union association Before the employer and the workers

At a lower level of participation, the information level stands out.

The company must provide you, through the workers committee or union, certain reports that are required for a more harmonious relationship in which topics of the evolution of the activity (economic, financial, etc.) are disclosed.

In Argentina this system is not very developed, it establishes that employers must provide details of wages, discounts and bank deposits.

Company role

Its function is to produce goods and services and facilitate the possibility of a better level of conditions to ensure a climate of peace and harmony.

Trade union associations of workers

Legal regulation

The National Constitution (Art. 14 bis) ensures workers free and democratic union organization, recognized by registration in a special register and the professional group, concluding collective labor agreements, resorting to conciliation and arbitration, the right to strike. Their union representatives will enjoy the necessary guarantees for the fulfillment of their union management and those related to the stability of their employment.

Basic requirements

Associations must consist of workers' organizations that carry out a directed work (in a relationship of dependency) whose purpose is to defend the interests of workers, everything related to their living and working conditions. The right to exercise the actions to remove obstacles that hinder the full achievement of the worker is recognized. Associations aim to defend individual and collective interests.

The union organization may choose to choose the membership criteria of its members.

Vertical or activity: workers of the same activity or related activities can join to the extent that they have common interests.Horizontal: workers who even carry out different activities, carry out the same trade, profession or category can join.

The types of associations can be:

First degree (unions or unions): these correspond to organizations that carry out their activity in a reduced geographical area. Confederations: they associate with the first degree and represent the interests of workers throughout the country.

The differences between these are based on the fact that in one case the geographic decentralization organizations do not have their own legal status, while in the federation the different associates have autonomy having their own legal or union status.

Union associations are recognized as a right

Determine their name Determine their purpose, scope of personal representation and territorial action Adopt the type of organization they deem appropriate Formulate their action program and carry out licit activities in defense of the interests of workers.

Once these basic requirements have been met, the organizers can choose to establish 2 types of associations that are distinguished by reason of the different functions that are recognized: with simple registration and with union status.

Associations with simple registration.

They correspond to the permanently constituted professional group, which has been registered in a special registry that is in charge of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

Must indicate:

Name, address, patrimony List of affiliates Payroll and nationality of the members Presentation of the statutes that must meet the established requirements

All workers in the activity of the chosen geographical area can enter. The founders, complying with the aforementioned requirements, may choose to have the association exercise vertical or activity or horizontal or official affiliation functions.

The registration request must be made to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, accompanying the list of affiliates that must indicate the mention of where the workers work.

Once these requirements have been fulfilled, the Ministry must be issued within 90 days. This procedure means the approval of the statutes by the government, it also constitutes the recognition to act as a legal person.

Once the registration is obtained, the association can exercise the rights established by law:

Petition and represent individual interests Represent collective interests Promote:
1. The formation of cooperative and mutual societies The improvement of labor legislation General education and the professional training of workers
Impose contributions to its affiliates Conduct meetings or assemblies without prior authorization

Associations with union status

They are the associations that, in addition to meeting the indicated requirements to obtain registration in the Registry, have:

An antiquity in him and performance not less than 6 months Affiliate more than 20% of the workers he tries to represent

The administrative authority must issue the petition within 90 days.

You must specify the scope of territorial and personal representation that cannot exceed what is established in the statute but can be more limited. If there is a pre-existing union in the area of representation, it cannot be granted to the petitioner without first giving intervention to the affected association, to determine which is the most representative.

Recognized the exercise of trade union status, the association has as exclusive rights that are added to those of the fact of registration:

Defend and represent the individual and collective interests of workers before the State and employers Participate in planning and control institutions Intervene in collective negotiations and monitor compliance with labor and social security regulations Collaborate with the State in the study and solution of The workers Establish assets of affectation that have the same rights as cooperatives and mutual societies Manage their own social works and participate in the administration of those created by law or by collective labor agreements.

Constitutive act

The decision to form a professional association must be taken in an assembly, which will provide for the foundation of the group and approve the statute, which will contain the following:

Denomination, domicile, object and area of activity Activity, trade, profession or category of the workers that it represents. These collections must be individualized to allow a specific delimitation between personal and territorial areas. The norm tends to avoid overlapping problems between professional associations that later give rise to inter-jurisdictional struggles. Rights and obligations of affiliates, requirements for their admission and procedure for their separation that guarantees the right of defense Determination of authorities and specification of its functions Mode of constitution, administration and control of social heritage Period and form of presentation,approval and publication of reports and balances Electoral regime that ensures internal democracy in accordance with the principles established in the legal system Regime for the calling and operation of assemblies and congresses Procedure to establish legitimate measures of union action Procedure for the modification of the statutes and dissolution of the association

Association bodies

The bodies in charge of the direction and administration of a company are:

Assembly or Congress: it constitutes the maximum authority of conduction of the entity that sets the policy and exercises control over its development and institutional life.
1. Set general criteria for action (the general policy of the union group) Consider the draft projects of collective labor agreements Approve and modify the statutes, reports and balance sheets; merger with other associations; Affiliation or disaffiliation Give mandate to delegates to congresses of higher level associations and receive the report of their performance Set the amount of ordinary and extraordinary contributions of affiliates. The members of the congress must be designated by secret vote of the affiliates.
Executive: the direction and administration is exercised by a collegiate body made up of not less than 5 regular members elected by vote. These members must be Argentine, of legal age and have no civil or criminal inhibitions and have worked in the activity in question for at least 2 years and the same length of membership. Others: the statute may establish other bodies such as those:
1. They are in charge of carrying out internal management audits They have control over the administration of social heritage They control the electoral regime They act as a disciplinary tribunal

These bodies tend to form a corporate structure that ensures effective internal democracy.

Right of the workers in front of the union association

Union democracy is an open-ended organization that workers are not required to join. To join a union, you must accept and comply with the requirements and requirements established by statute. Under no pretext can people over 14 be denied entry.

1. Income

The request to join a trade union can only be rejected due to:

Failure to comply with the requirements of the statute Do not work in the professional activity, trade, category or company that the association represents Have been subject to expulsion by a union without a year has passed Have been prosecuted or have been judicially convicted

The governing body must accept affiliation within 30 days; After this period, the proposal is automatically accepted.

If the authority decides not to accept the application for membership, it must submit all the information for its consideration and the grounds for its decision to the Assembly or Congress.

The retiree as well as the worker who is unable to work (due to illness, accident or disability) can maintain union membership with the same rights.

The statute may restrict retirees the right to vote to elect union association authorities and the right to run as candidates for such positions, with the exception of candidacies to join inspection or support bodies.

Affiliates who remain unemployed may retain their affiliation until 6 months after their termination of employment, the statute being able to compel payment of the fee during this period.

Instead, in the event that the person decides to end the activity, they would have the right to join another association. By not observing the requirements that legitimize their incorporation, their affiliate status ceases and the association can order the cancellation of this. Disenrollment of the affiliate by their own decision or that of the group does not give them the right to request the refund of the dues or contributions paid or part of the share capital.

2. Exercise of rights

Once incorporated, the affiliate has the same rights as those with more seniority.

3. Electoral rights

Affiliates can participate in the renewal of the authorities and can be elected by vote, which must be set 90 days prior to the change of authority.

4. Disciplinary regime

The affiliate cannot be expelled without just cause contemplated in the statute. The measures range from warning to expulsion.

Suspensions do not deprive the affiliate of their right to vote or to be a candidate for elections, but rather refer to the use of the benefits and services that the professional association provides to its members, other than those indicated.

The suspended may file a review of the disciplinary measure before the Assembly or Congress. In the case of suspension against the executive members, they can only be adopted in extraordinary assemblies or congresses, as well as the expulsion of any affiliate.

Only those who have committed can be expelled:

Statutory violations or failure to comply with decisions of governing bodies Collaborate with employers in acts that matter unfair practices Receive direct or indirect subsidies from employers due to the exercise of trade union office Having been convicted of committing a crime to the detriment of a trade union association Having committed acts capable of cause serious damage to the union or have caused serious disorders within it Have ceased to carry out the activity, trade, profession or category provided for in the group Moor in the payment of dues and contributions without being regularized in a reasonable time

These Assembly decisions can be reviewed by the labor justice.

5. Disenrollment

Just as the norm ensures and guarantees the worker's right to enter and maintain their affiliation, it also grants them the power to disenroll through resignation, which must be accepted by the governing body within 30 days. If not, the disenrollment has occurred automatically.

External action of the union

The professional association, both the one with trade union status and the one with simple registration, has a competence that allows it to fulfill its social objective. Part of it corresponds to the internal order (normative, disciplinary regime, quota) and another to the external order (go to court, hire third parties, etc.)

1) Collective bargaining: one of the objects of the professional association is to act in setting working conditions. That right is reached through the conclusion of the agreement.

2) Representation of individual and collective interests: the recognition of union status gives the association the ability to represent and defend professional interests, which is exercised before the State, employers and the community in general. The registered association can only exercise the representation of its affiliates as long as it proves that they have so requested, which is proved by a power of attorney.

3) Direct action measures: the trade union association is the holder of the power to adopt them, and can order them in accordance with the statutory procedure, after having exhausted the conciliation procedures. The resolution that is adopted in this sense obliges the members to comply with the decision, with non-compliance being the reason for sanctions. Although the legal norm establishes that it is the power of all associations to decree legitimate measures of union action, it is limited exclusively to associations with union status.

4) Collaboration: by this is meant the action of working with another, in the case, public or private organizations, in order to achieve better living conditions. The legal norm establishes some guidelines regarding the association with trade union status.

Collaborate with the State in the study and solution of workers' problems. Participate in planning and control institutions in accordance with the provisions of the regulations. Participate in the administration of social works created by law or by collective labor agreements.

In this way, these types of associations are recognized a framework of activities in which they are empowered to carry out an important action in order to achieve the group's objective. The simply registered associations can only perform some tasks that aim at the elaboration of the common good, which constitutes the purpose of the State, such as:

Promote the formation of cooperative and mutual societies The improvement of labor, social security and pension legislation General education and professional training of workers.

5) Political action: the current norm does not establish any provision in this regard, which is why, according to the legal regime of political parties, trade union associations are not allowed to carry out actions that are reserved exclusively for them. But it should be pointed out that if the concept of politics is understood in a broad sense, the organizations that represent the members of the community can express their opinions and interests, in terms of the common good and those related to the culture, education and education sectors., economy and those of the community.

6) Education: to this end, the legal regime recognizes the right of professional associations to promote general education and professional training of workers, for which purpose it may or may not organize permanent institutions.

7) Social work: Law 18,610 made this practice official with regard to the provision of medical services, entrusting its attention to social work, administered by the union, when there is another state, parastatal or mixed in the sector. To this end, it provided the contribution of all workers and employees. It was determined that the union associations are not recipients of the resources from the social works; for this purpose, the unions had to carry out an administration and control separate from the funds destined for this purpose. Law 23,551 establishes as the exclusive right of associations with union status to administer their own social works with the current regime in force. They, who act as subjects of the law, enjoy administrative, accounting and financial individuality,and will be led by a 5-member council appointed by the union association with union status.

Staff delegates

Within the functions performed by unions, they play a triple relationship role:

• Worker - union • Worker - company • Company - union

The aforementioned official does not exercise the representation of the workers of the steps taken before the labor administration.

These workers, who act as union officials, are responsible for spreading the idea of unionism, responding to workers' requests and claims.

Their appointment must be made by election in the workplace by direct and secret vote and during working hours.

The nomination of delegate must be reliably notified by the union association to the employer within 48 hours of the election. The latter cannot contest the designation unless he proves:

That the worker is not an employee of the establishment or does not have the required seniority or age That the summons has been made by a foreign union That the number of appointees exceeds that corresponding

Some of their own tasks (communications system, posters, flyer distribution) must be the subject of the collective agreement.

The employer must admit that the delegate's relationship with the staff is fluid and allows him to carry out his work. To this end, the law establishes the obligation of the employer to:

Facilitate a premises Conduct regular meetings with said officials Grant each of them a credit of monthly hours

The function of the delegates includes the verification of the legal or conventional norms; they can act in the inspections carried out by the labor administration authority. This verification is limited to verification of compliance with labor legislation.

Union guarantees

In order to allow the exercise of the rights of workers and the groups they constitute, it is established:

The enunciation of essential rights of the former In organisms that require union representation or in political positions in the public powers As union representatives in the chosen companies Candidates or said positions enjoy stability that can be defined as obsolete with lesser effects

In accordance with this, these personnel, not mediating a just cause, cannot be suspended or dismissed during the term of their command and up to one year expired.

Job issue

Concept

It can be characterized as a shock that separates 2 people or groups that maintain differences of opinion regarding certain issues. The conflict constitutes a fracture that breaks the necessary solidarity of those who make up a unit.

The various causes sometimes respond to reasons of internal order whose objects, values, traditions are not equal or opposite. They also occur in the economic order, of command prestige, on the ideological and not the material level.

Ideologically, management is in favor of the free market, of a system of absolute freedom of association; on the other hand, the workers do not accept dictatorial prerogatives, they intend to participate in them.

The integration of the worker into the company and union action often generates conflicts.

The professional association is interested in the situation of the workers in the activity for which it tends to obtain agreements of this nature that ensure a certain uniformity.

Employers are more concerned with the contract and the individual relationship. The labor conflict is influenced by the social one, many of its causes are extra business, ideological, frustrations in social life, uncertainty about the future, to which are added the causes of the workplace.

The conflict may lead to the withdrawal of individual collaboration in the workplace.

Types of conflict

1. Individual and collective

The distribution responds to the character of the holder of the committed interests that cause the shock. If the interest is injured by the workers, the conflict is individual (ex: non-payment), although there may be several employees under the same conditions, it is still an individual conflict.

When the injured interest is not that of one or more workers, but that of the entire professional category, the conflict is considered collective. In the case, it is not the interest of one or several employees but the interest of the whole.

A conflict that could have originated as an individual can become a collective to the extent that the group considers that through it not only a subjective right is violated, but also their own.

Frequently, by virtue of worker solidarity, conflicts that are individual in nature become collective.

Classification is important to determine the agency that must intervene in the composition of the conflict that has resulted in direct action measures. If it is of a collective nature, the labor administration body intervenes, which acts to bring the parties closer. If it were individual, the intervention of said administrative body is limited to trying to achieve a conciliation, offer settlement formulas and, where appropriate, standardize the agreements reached by the parties.

The individual conflict insofar as it does not degenerate into one of a collective nature, is the competence of the judge. When it is of interest (the worker wants to modify the current norm) he no longer has a composition body indicated by law; in the case, the administering body can only act as a conciliator and, if the parties decide, as arbitrator.

2. Of law and interests

The confrontation corresponds to one or the other species depending on whether the question being debated and that provokes it refers to the interpretation of a pre-existing norm that it considers to have been violated, or to the creation of a new one.

By law: the discrepancy concerns a provision that is already constitutional, legal, regulatory or concerning customs and uses.Of interests: one of the parties tries to create new conditions for which it is necessary to modify the current regulatory framework (obtain new rights, wages, hours, etc.)

The conflict of interest is the responsibility of the labor administration body. As for the law, it must be brought before the competent judge who, faced with the diversity of interpretation, has to apply the pre-existing rule to the case in question.

3. According to the origin of the cause

According to the type of relationship the matter has been given, it can be of an occupational or extra-labor nature.

The most common cause is that which originates from differences that occur within the relationship between workers and employers and the affected interest (individual or collective).

Some conflicts have their origin in the relationships that exist between (inter-union) unions related to representation problems to broaden the geographical scope or activity.

In other cases, it is not a problem of fighting to broaden the scope of action but of defending rights.

These kinds of conflicts usually have a greater scope for action in the union plurality regime than in the unity regime.

The scope of representation according to the plurality regime is obtained through union action, offering greater perspectives of reasoning in the attempt to take over another sector. On the other hand, in one of unity, recognition is obtained through an administrative resolution that has to be subject to certain objective guidelines (number of members), which reduces the possibility of conflicts of this nature. However, there are cases in which an association tries by signing a collective agreement to go beyond its natural scope to get new workers. This raises questions in the alteration of labor peace.

In other circumstances, it is produced within the same party that exercises the representation (intra-union). It is an internal event that transcends the scope of the association and is projected within the company, which receives the impact of the shock. An example is the so-called savage strikes in which a group of the union, to demonstrate its power and capacity in fact, paralyze work or cause deterioration in its provision.

The origin of the imbalance corresponds to a cause linked at least to sectors related to the provision of work, although the real reason is another, with questions of partisan interests, the aspiration for personal leadership, although they are disguised with motivations of that nature.

In other conflicts, the motive responds to reasons beyond that sphere in which one sector, to gain support, uses the pressure it exerts on another to decide in its favor.

The importance of this classification lies in determining whether or not it constitutes the legitimate exercise of the constitutional right to strike.

If the dispute has its origin in a worker-employer cause, it is evident that the pressure exerted is against someone who is involved in the issue (even if the conflict projects its effects beyond it and is suffered by the global community: lack or decrease of production, social nuisance, etc.). On the other hand, in the others, the means used is an element of pressure to induce the employer to support a sector in a matter that is alien to it, for which reason it cannot provide a solution because it is foreign.

Exercising in a strike only makes sense when it constitutes a means of defense exercised in a strike of a worker-employer nature. This judgment is limited to determining that this conflict is not labor, does not mean that it is not legitimate from the moral point of view, what is affirmed is that it is not work and therefore its own treatment cannot be applied.

Conflict resolution system

For this purpose, there are administrative and jurisdictional systems through which attempts are made to establish conciliation bases at the level of the interested parties themselves or of a third party (judge or arbitrator).

In the administrative sphere, the conciliation procedure stands out as the most common. The state body tries to bring the parties closer, maintain or, where appropriate, re-establish dialogue in order to find the possible solution path.

This is one of the most efficient means that the State has to achieve labor peace. Said action is carried out about individual and collective conflicts, although the latter are the most worrying.

Next to the figure of conciliation, there is the one of mediation in which the action of the labor administration is greater. It can not only act as a bridge but also mediates through the proposal of conciliatory formulas.

In order to achieve the objective, it must meet not only to provide the parties to the dispute with the possibility of dialogue, but also to offer them alternative solutions.

Another procedure is arbitration, which is applied when none of the above worked. The possibility that remains is to offer that the dispute be resolved by a third party that supplants the will of the parties that have not been able to reach an agreement.

A distinction is made between so-called optional arbitration and compulsory arbitration.

In the optional: they are the same interested parties, by themselves or at the request of the judicial or administrative authority, who decide to submit the dispute to the decision of a third party. In the mandatory: they are not the parties but the public authority (Ministry of Labor and Social Security) which decides that the issue is resolved, given the impossibility of those directly interested in solving the conflict.

Strike

Through these measures the group of workers try to defend their position that they consider to be injured by the employer.

Collective and concerted abstention from working benefits for an indefinite period is considered a strike, until the conflict is resolved. The National Constitution recognizes the strike as a right of the unions as well as the right that they have to bring together conciliation and arbitration. It has become clear that it is not a right of the (individual) worker but of the group.

Legality and unlawfulness of the strike in Argentine law

To determine whether or not a measure of this nature corresponds to the exercise of the right enshrined in the national Constitution, two parameters can be used: a) if it fulfills the accepted purpose, and b) if it complies with the established regulatory procedures.

a) Purpose

The strike must respond in support of a measure that pursues an employment purpose. It must not have a political purpose or be part of a tactic to obtain aspects unattainable through reconciliation with the employer.

The cessation of the labor benefit is justified as a means of pressure on the employer, in order to achieve recognition of a new right or avoid the ignorance of an existing one. Within labor law, it does not make sense if it is used as a means of satisfying aspects outside that kind of relationship. Only those that have their origin in a labor-union conflict will constitute the exercise of the constitutional right to strike.

b) Comply with regulatory procedures

There is a regulation in order to exercise the right to strike, namely:

Be declared by the union with union status Have exhausted the compulsory conciliation procedure Not be subject to compulsory arbitration Not be prohibited by virtue of having declared the State of Siege (when constitutional guarantees are suspended)

Other direct action measures

a) Unemployment

Among these are 3 different:

which results in an interruption of the provision for a certain time (one hour, one or two days, etc.), while the strike is for an indefinite time until the conflict is solved. for a period not exceeding one day. abstention from the task but with permanence in the workplace, while the strike is not without that permanence.

In unemployment the employer is warned of the interruption time, which allows the latter to adapt the appropriate measures. Typically for a short time, workers remain in the workplace; These characteristics (which correspond to 3) are called "sit-down strike".

According to the law, the hiring of workers to replace others during unemployment is prohibited.

Two aspects must be distinguished:

permanence of the worker in the workplace occupation of the employee

In the 1, although the permanence is not justified, it can be tolerated by the employer who considers that situation more convenient than leaving the place.

On the other hand, when there is an order to vacate, the permanence in the workplace constitutes a special modality, which damages the property right of the employer since the occupation is maintained against his will. The fact is aggravated when acts of violence are added, such as the taking of the establishment.

As long as there is no order to evict work environments, it seems that permanence does not constitute an illicit form of externalization of the conflict.

b) Rotational stops

The workers of a business group abstain from giving their commitment, but they do not do so continuously and simultaneously, but intermittently so that due to stoppages in the different sections the work of the company is altered (one day a sector does not work, the next day another, etc.) Faced with this modality, the company may resort to the closure of the establishment.

c) Lack of work

In this modality there is no interruption of the benefit, it is maintained but the worker avoids his collaboration. Sometimes it is limited to doing the minimum possible so that it is not accused of abandonment of service.

In the case there is a violation of the duty to act as a good worker.

And in recent years some practical applications of this figure have appeared with the "sad work", the "slowdown". According to the first, the state of distress caused by the conflict prevents the employee from making the effort necessary to fulfill his task.

In the second state, due to the same circumstance, the work prints a slow rhythm different from the usual one.

d) Work to regulations

In this modality, under the appearance of strict compliance with certain requirements established by the work regulations, the pace of the tasks is decreased.

e) Collaboration withdrawal

The worker considers himself exempt from providing it (which is a primary duty for both parties), therefore he refuses to perform overtime, does not communicate to the employer certain circumstances that he observes: defects in the raw material he uses, difficulties in the operation of the machinery it operates, etc.

f) Sabotage

It consists of acts of depredation of the instruments, raw or elaborated material, machinery, buildings that constitute the necessary infrastructure to fulfill the purpose of the company. It tends to impede task completion.

g) Blacklists

They are payrolls of people (employers) with whom it is advised not to maintain contractual relations (of labor or commercial characteristics). They are a means of pressure. Its illegality is evident to the extent that it constitutes a violation of the duty of loyalty. This form is also called a boycott.

In some cases, in order to exert pressure to compel union membership, lists include the names of workers who refuse to join, for which purpose it is recommended that they not be hired.

There are also lists of this type prepared by employers that include workers who have had labor problems in order to notify other companies that, in the knowledge of the background, do not hire them.

h) Pickets

They are usually described as a form of (irregular) strike exercise. It is a means of pressure that is sometimes limited to invitation and in other times to violence, so that workers and the public refrain from “going to work” or buying. For this, people are installed at the "door" of the establishment to act.

When it is peaceful and does not violate other provisions, it is lawful.

Collective negotiation

Framework

The parties involved in the negotiation of working conditions, through their representative organizations (unions and professional employers' organizations), agree on the basic conditions in which the work will be carried out in each individual relationship.

This transcends that the groups protect themselves and it is facilitated that the conditions are adapted to the concrete reality of each activity, zone or region. On the part of workers, it means assuming a role of participation in the task of determining working conditions.

Collective labor agreement

Concept

Any written agreement regarding working and employment conditions, concluded between an employer, a group of employers or one or more representative organizations of workers or in the absence of such organizations, representatives of interested workers, duly elected and authorized by the latter, in accordance with national legislation.

Types of agreements

Within the CCT, we must distinguish those that have an erga omnes effect, whether of activity or profession; and the so-called “company agreements”

A. Collective Labor Agreement with an erga omnes effect

Characteristics and scope of validity

It extends to all professional activity within a given geographic sector, making it mandatory for employers and employees, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with the union or the professional association that has subscribed them.

It is not only an agreement between non-individual parties, but the approval of the labor administrative body that integrates it as a constituent element and gives it erga omnes validity has been added.

The CCT has "body of contract and soul of law", which indicates that in terms of requirements and their negotiation (capacity, consent, form, etc.) it is not distinguished from the common contract, but its effects are similar to those of the law.

The effect of its mandatory clauses does not differ from the common law contract; its provisions only bind the parties and the persons represented by them, although it is designated as a convention.

Within this modality, company agreements (other than "company agreements") are included, where the difference with the previous ones is that the field of application is narrower: it only applies to a company or its establishment..

In both circumstances, the negotiation required approval by the labor administrative body.

B. Company agreement

Characteristics and scope of validity

The characteristics are typical of those of a contract, the binding effects of which are reduced to the parties that have agreed to it.

It has not been approved by the administrative authority, therefore its scope is limited to that single sector. The rights and obligations that arise from this "source" are incorporated into the assets of the parties, so they can only be modified by "individual agreement".

Legal regime

In Argentina, there is a common collective bargaining system, that is, applicable to all work sectors made up of various federal or provincial regulations.

1. Legal definition of Collective Agreement

It is defined as the agreement between a professional association of employers, an employer or a group of employers and a professional association of workers with union status, in order to establish working conditions. In this legislation, the faculty is restricted to associations of workers with union personality, for which it is expressly established who has the right on the part of the workers to celebrate such agreements. Regarding employer representation, it is designated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. The following labor sectors are excepted: agricultural workers (permanent or not), at home, and domestic service.

2. Modes of agreement

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is the enforcement authority with powers to standardize and monitor compliance with collective agreements. There is a criterion for coordinating the functions that are the responsibility of the administrative and labor bodies of the federal order and of the provinces. Substantially regarding collective bargaining matters, it is established that the provincial government is responsible for: a) exercising the function of labor police throughout its territory… e) applying and managing collective labor conventions… f) collective bargaining for your public agents.

The scope of the aforementioned authorities must be respected, since they can give rise to dissimilar decisions regarding the nature of a collective agreement that has not been approved by the corresponding authority, according to our legal system.

3. Homologation

In order for the legal business arranged by the parties to be valid, the application authority, in this case the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, must approve it. The request must be made by either party. These must accompany the information and documentation that are required in order for the governing body to be issued within a peremptory period of 45 days. As a condition sine qua non it is required that the convention does not contain clauses that violate public order norms.

The Ministry must analyze whether the parties have taken into account criteria of productivity, investments, incorporation of technologies, professional training systems and the provisions of current regulations.

The agreement concluded by a professional association of workers that has its union status that limits its scope to a company does not need to be approved by the authority (see "company agreement").

The approval of the enforcement body requires the exercise of two controls: legality, referring to the fact that the agreement does not contain clauses violating public order or dictated in protection of the general interest; and they conform to the legal norms that govern the institutions of labor law. Regarding the latter, only modifications that are favorable to the workers are admitted and as long as they do not affect provisions issued to protect the general interest.

4. Scope of understanding of the agreement

It can be classified from the point of view of the regulated activity as the activity itself or profession. The first, also called vertical, correspond to those in which the parties agree on the conditions that must prevail in a given sector (metallurgical, trade, wood, etc.) without taking into account the task or trade performed by each worker. On the other hand, the professional (horizontal) agreement regulates working conditions with respect to a category of tasks regardless of the activity in which the employee performs.

Depending on the geographical scope of the business regulation, it will be national, provincial, regional or company-based.

5. Joint Commission

In order to act as an interpretation body and proceed to the qualification of the personnel and to determine the category of the establishment in accordance with the provisions of the collective agreement, each party has the right to request the constitution of a Joint Interpretation Commission which deliberates under the presidency of a state official. This joint commission can intervene as a conciliation body in individual disputes. If their actions are accepted, the conciliation agreements concluded by the interested parties will have res judicata authority.

The transactional, conciliatory or liberatory agreements for this effect to take place must be approved in a founded resolution that proves that by means of such acts a fair composition of the rights and interests of the parties has been achieved.

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