A third of the state workers who depend on the Nation see their jobs in danger at this time: all the Santa Fe state contracts expired on the last day of March and they had no confirmations about how many will be renewed. This is 30% of the total national public employees in the province, which amount to 12,000, which is equivalent to about 3,600 people. The layoffs target mass care offices such as Ansés or the Social Development centers, or areas such as Conicet, Disability, Islas de Santa Fe National Park or Family Agriculture, but it not only affects those hired but also plant personnel with many years. “Those laid off are not gnocchi,” said Matías Avallone, coordinator of national organizations of the Santa Fe delegation of ATE, who promises a fight.
The figure managed by the national government was about 70,000 workers throughout the country, but it decreased as the days went by “to give rise to a thorough audit,” according to the presidential spokesperson.
“The president has no idea of the number of contracts there are throughout the national State, not just in the province of Santa Fe,” said Avallone. Along these lines, he defined: “Until now, at the national level there have been around 10,000 layoffs, with the first measures that Milei took to not renew the new colleagues in 2024. What is happening now is that there will be a significant percentage of layoffs due to non-renewal of contracts that had expired on March 31.”
In this regard, he added: “In the province of Santa Fe there are 12 thousand workers in the national State, distributed in around 20 organizations such as Pami, Ansés, AFIP, Senasa, Vialidad Nacional. Of those 12 thousand, 30 percent are hired under some type of modality”.
Avallone warned that those 3,600 hired are at risk of losing their jobs and reiterated: “The contracts expire on March 31 and we do not know if they will be renewed. We do not know in what percentage, Milei announces 70 thousand layoffs and other sources speak of a 10 thousand or 15 thousand to lower the foam.”
For the union member, “if there are no more layoffs here it is because of the fight we have been fighting since day one.”
The national government ordered in the Litoral region (Santa Fe and Entre Ríos) some 50 layoffs of 500 employees who supported 40 public service offices. “These are offices that, as of this cut, will close their doors, leaving many localities without the possibility of processing fundamental issues such as retirements, pensions, family allowances and social benefits,” said Rubén Román, delegate of APOPS, in the coastal region. of Ansés.
The adjustment generated the closure of the offices in Funes, Puerto General San Martín, Vera and Villa Ocampo, among other locations. This forces citizens to travel considerable distances to carry out their procedures, with the additional costs that this implies.
“The measures are taken throughout the national territory, from La Quiaca to Ushuaia. Not only do they lower contracts, but they fire permanent colleagues without any cause. They want to lower the benefits and public policies towards citizens,” said Román. Likewise, the union fears that the Anses service tables in San Lorenzo, San Javier and San Justo will follow the same path.
Román warned that the government’s final objective is to privatize Ansés and eliminate the current pension system. “They want to finish off the Sustainability Guarantee Fund (FGS), a 72 billion dollar fund that supports the system,” he stated. This situation affects not only Anses workers, but the entire population that depends on this organization to access their rights.
The truth is that in some cases there is already information that in some localities, the positions left vacant could be occupied by militants from the same area enrolled in or close to the political force that handles the “chainsaw.”
At 500 España Street, there is a Reference Center (CDR) of the former Ministry of Social Development. As of last Friday, there were 48 employees, of which 30 are hired and nine have already been fired without compensation. The rent for the office was cancelled. Last Wednesday there was an act of repudiation in front of the property: at night, emails arrived with more news: five new dismissals, all with more than eight years of work.
In addition to the closure or intervention of Inadi, Télam with delegations in Rosario and Santa Fe, the national government announced the end of the Institute of Family Agriculture, which implies 42 positions in Santa Fe under the modality of technical advisors (agronomists, veterinarians, social workers and psychologists, among others). Until now they were not fired but they were left without functions and dismantled a policy that began in 1993 with the creation of the Agricultural Social Program. “In Santa Fe, we reach around 20 thousand families, horticulturists, fishermen, ranchers, sheep, goat, poultry, beekeepers, peasant families, indigenous peoples, among others,” explained Laura, one of the members of the institute.
In the case of “Islas de Santa Fe”, the only space of that type in the province that takes care of the resources of the Paraná Delta, an administrative employee was laid off. Meanwhile, in the National Park based in Puerto Gaboto, 15 of the 20 workers have contracts under article 9 and that includes six administrative and technical workers, and nine brigade members. According to reports, the government renewed the contracts of the brigade members until December and extended the contracts of the others until June but under threat of a new round of layoffs. In addition, there was a sharp cut in supplies and logistics support.
