Nicosia, 16th June 2025
To:
Sandra Viviana Pettovello
Ministra de Capital Humano
Gobierno de la República Argentina
Email: contacto@politicassociales.gob.ar
Carlos Horacio Torrendell
Secretario de Educación
Gobierno de la República Argentina
Email: educacion@educacion.gob.ar
Copy to:
EI <headoffice@ei-ie.org>
Attacks against teachers’ rights and public education in Argentina
Excellencies,
On behalf of POED, we are writing to express deep concern about the recent measures taken by your Government to limit the right to strike for teachers and dismantle collective bargaining for salaries at the national level.
POED stands in full solidarity with our sister organisations in Argentina – the Confederación de Educadores Argentinos (CEA), the Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA), the Federación Nacional de Docentes Universitarios (CONADU), and the Sindicato Argentino de Docentes Privados (SADOP), in their defence of labour rights, social justice, and public education.
On May 21, 2025, your government issued the Decree 340/25, which declares education as an "essential service" with the aim of restricting right to strike for teachers. Teacher unions have univocally denounced this decree as unconstitutional and unfair. Similar attempts at limiting the right to strike of Argentinian teachers have previously been declared unconstitutional by national courts and condemned by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Teacher unions are also opposing a proposed amendment to Article 10 of the Law 26.075 on education funding. If passed, this amendment would put an end to a tripartite bargaining mechanism that guarantees a common minimum salary for all teachers in the country and that has been key to promoting decent and uniform working conditions.
These decisions represent a serious setback for teachers' labour rights in Argentina and severely undermine social cohesion and justice in the country.
POED urges your government to withdraw the proposed amendment to Article 10 of Law 26.075 and to repeal Decree 340/25.
It’s the responsibility of the authorities to not weaken, but to promote and strengthen labour and education rights. We are confident that the authorities will respond to this legitimate demand and act in defence of inclusive, equitable and quality public education for all.
Yours sincerely,
The President The General Secretary
Myria Vasileiou Charis Charalambous