Chaco's Superior Court of Justice (STJ) docked striking court employees up to 200,000 pesos, about US$131, from their 30 September pay. Its reason: a rule it calls standard, no service, no salary. El Destape reported the deductions on 3 October. Chaco Ahora and NEA HOY put the range at 120,000 to 200,000 pesos, or about US$79 to US$131, for a single day. The dollar figures use 1,523 pesos to the dollar, the 2 October close.
The Deductions
The STJ ordered the cuts in Resolution 865/26 after the 18 September stoppage. El Destape and NEA HOY reported that the court identified strikers through attendance records and office reports. The charge appears 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 also argued that a bill still under debate doesn't prove the employer breached anything, Perfil reported on 22 September.
More cuts may follow. A second strike day, 25 September, could come out of October pay because of payroll timing, El Destape and NEA HOY reported.
The Bill Behind the Dispute
The fight centres on Bill 2141/26, which Governor Leandro Zdero sent to the provincial Chamber of Deputies. It would create a pay guarantee, described as "intangibility," for judges and senior court officials. Perfil reported that their pay would move toward the national average in four six-month stages of 85%, 90%, 95% and 100%, followed by quarterly reviews.
Supporters say it would bring Chaco's judicial pay closer to national levels. The STJ calls it the executive's response to a court ruling.
Unions reject that account. They say an ad hoc tribunal of judges who would benefit from the scheme endorsed it, Chaco On Line reported. They also argue the bill breaks the percentage link in provincial Law 468-A, which ties staff pay to judges' salaries. They call the separation "desenganche," or decoupling, and want lawmakers to shelve the bill.
Unions Push Back
The Intergremial Judicial, a front of court unions, held a walkout on 24 September and a full stoppage on 25 September. Its own surveys put participation at 70% to 75%, Litigio reported on 26 September. The unions call the deductions legally unfounded and say they'll take 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 but, according to the reports reviewed, hasn't commented. He won the province from the Peronists in 2023, three years ago.
Much remains unknown. The STJ and the unions haven't published how many workers it docked or the total withheld. The reports give no scheduled legislative vote and no cost estimate for Bill 2141/26. No new stoppage has been announced.
Why This Matters: Two questions sit under this dispute, and neither has a public answer yet. The first is cost. Bill 2141/26 would lift judicial pay in four stages toward the national average, yet the reports cite no price tag, and taxpayers in a provincial budget deserve one before lawmakers vote. The second is process. The STJ is applying a no-work-no-pay rule to staff who stopped working, and unions plan to test it in court. That's where such disputes belong. Chaco's finance minister says the staff-pay link stays in force, while the unions say it's being cut. Until the bill's text, cost and vote schedule are public, that disagreement can't be settled, and the province's courts remain strained.