Argentina’s oilseed sector workers have lifted their two-day strike after the lower house of Congress approved contentious reforms backed by President Javier Milei but opposed by some unions.
The strike had paralyzed business at the South American country’s top grains ports, holding up shipments of soy, corn and wheat from one of the world’s top farm exporters. Activity at the shipping hubs in Rosario, the key agricultural export area, began normalizing by Tuesday evening.
Daniel Succi, secretary general of the SOEA oilseed worker union, confirmed that the strike action has been lifted, though he hinted that another work stoppage could come when the Senate takes up the reforms.
The reforms, which include provisions to lower the threshold for salaries subject to income tax, are part of a slimmed-down version of an earlier Milei-backed package. The president took power four months ago, pledging to slash public spending and stave off hyperinflation, but his reform push has faced stiff resistance from center-left opponents.
Gustavo Idigoras, head of the grains exporters and processors chamber, said that all port operations had ground to a halt on Tuesday due to the strike. Argentina is a major world supplier of processed soybeans, and revenue from grains shipments are a crucial source of foreign currency for the cash-strapped government during the country’s prolonged economic slide.
The union federation comprising other maritime and river workers that also protested the reforms lifted its strike midday on Tuesday, according to Leonel Cardozo, the Timbues regional delegate of the SOMU Maritime Workers Union.
The lifting of the strike comes as a relief for Argentina’s agricultural sector, which relies heavily on the smooth flow of exports through the country’s key ports. However, the underlying tensions over Milei’s reform agenda continue to simmer, and the potential for further disruptions remains.