Chamber of Deputies gives green light to privatization of Aerolineas Argentinas and Trenes Argentinos

04-05-24

Aerolineas Argentinas and Trenes Argentinos will be privatized. The Government of Argentina has managed to push through in the Chamber of Deputies the new Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, a legislative initiative made up of 232 articles that represent “a first fundamental step to get Argentina out of the swamp”, as described by the president himself, Javier Milei, in his social networks.

According to the new law, nine companies, such as Aerolíneas Argentinas, Radio y Televisión Argentina, Energía Argentina, Correo Argentino, or Trenes Argentinos, may be privatized, and two more may incorporate private capital, such as Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, in charge of nuclear power plants.

Although the law has yet to be approved by the Senate, Milei has already started the 'scrapping' of some of the companies to be privatized. This is the case of Trenes Argentinos, in which the President, in addition to ordering the elimination of services, as well as the cancellation of key tenders, plans to execute some 3,000 dismissals until June -15% of the staff-. With these dismissals, they predict “an annual saving of 13,000 million pesos”. However, on the other hand, 56,400 million pesos will be required for severance payments.

Likewise, according to Diagonales, for the second semester of the year, the national management is considering another 3,000 layoffs in Trenes Argentinos. The main positions affected are in the operational areas of the service, i.e., train drivers or inspectors, especially in long distance and regional trains. On the other hand, the administrative areas will not be so affected by the massive layoffs.