Court employees in Argentina’s Chaco Province who walked off the job on 18 September saw up to 200,000 pesos, about US$131, deducted from their pay on 30 September, El Destape reported on 3 October. Chaco Ahora and NEA HOY put the deductions at between 120,000 and 200,000 pesos, roughly US$79 to US$131, for a single day. Those dollar figures use 1,523 pesos to the dollar, the 2 October close.
The workers didn’t lose that money by accident. Chaco’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ) ordered the deductions in Resolution 865/26.
How the Deductions Worked
El Destape and NEA HOY said the STJ identified strikers through attendance records and office reports. The deductions appeared on payslips under code 000257. The court’s position is plain: staff who provided no service that day have no claim to that day’s pay. It described deductions for days not worked as the normal rule. According to Perfil on 22 September, the STJ also said a bill still under debate didn’t prove the employer had breached its obligations.
More deductions could follow. El Destape and NEA HOY reported that payroll timing could push the deduction for a second strike day, 25 September, into October pay.
The Bill Behind the Strike
The dispute centres on Bill 2141/26, which Governor Leandro Zdero sent to the provincial Chamber of Deputies. The bill would create a pay guarantee, described as “intangibility,” for judges and senior court officials. Per Perfil, their pay would move toward the national average in four six-month stages of 85%, 90%, 95% and 100%, followed by quarterly reviews.
Unions say that design cuts the percentage link in provincial Law 468-A, which ties staff pay to judges’ salaries. They call the split “desenganche,” or decoupling, and want lawmakers to shelve the bill. The STJ calls it the executive’s response to a court ruling. The unions dispute that account, saying an ad hoc tribunal of judges who would benefit from the scheme endorsed it, Chaco On Line reported.
Supporters describe the measure as a way to bring Chaco’s judicial pay closer to national levels.
Unions Escalate and Contest the Cuts
The Intergremial Judicial, a front of court unions, held a walkout on 24 September and a full stoppage on 25 September. Its surveys put participation at 70% to 75%, Litigio reported on 26 September. The unions called the deductions legally unfounded and said they planned legal action, according to Chaco Ahora. FESITRAJU, the national federation of court unions, denounced a “salary confiscation.”
The unions also want Article 9 of Law 3424-A, which pegs judicial pay to the northeast regional average, applied to all court staff, not only judges.
On 30 September, they rejected a statement by the judges’ association backing the addition of court secretaries to the bill, Noticias Argentinas reported on 3 October. The unions said the scheme still selectively rewarded some ranks.
Government Response
Provincial Finance Minister Alejandro Abraam rejected the unions’ reading of decoupling. He said the law linking staff pay to judges’ salaries would remain in force, Perfil reported. Zdero sponsored the bill and, according to the reports reviewed, hadn’t commented. He won the province from the Peronists in 2023.
Much remains unknown. No new stoppage had been announced in the coverage. Neither the STJ nor the unions have published how many workers they docked or the total withheld. The reports also give no scheduled legislative vote and no cost estimate for Bill 2141/26.
Why This Matters: A day’s pay of 120,000 to 200,000 pesos is a real hit for court employees who aren’t the officials the bill would lift. The facts show the people who keep the courts running losing wages while the proposal under debate would guarantee pay for judges and senior officials. Unions argue that it breaks the statutory link between the two. Whether that link survives is a question for the Chamber of Deputies, where no vote is scheduled. The case also tests how far an employer can dock pay in a dispute over rules that it helps write. The lack of published figures on workers affected and money withheld leaves the public with little to judge the scale. From a perspective that values transparency and fair labor standards, those gaps matter as much as the pesos.