Argentina— “Challenges in the Current Labor World” was the title of the presentation by Dr. Roberto Reksas, company consultant in charge of HR and labor relations, during the second event in the 2022 Discussion Series sponsored by the International Association for Peace and Economic Development (IAED)/UPF/YSP-Argentina (1).
This online event took place on September 28, 2022. The panelists were Prof. Bertha Bilbao Richter, ILCH vice-president and IAACP-Argentina representative; and entrepreneur Nadia Machicado, public accountant/administration student and YSP-Argentina member (2).
“Without peace, we have no education. Without education, we have no business. Without business, we have no industry. And without the latter, there is no way we can create jobs,” claimed Dr. Reksas at the beginning of his presentation. He discussed the context of the different players of the labor world and their evolution: the entrepreneur and their chambers and federations; unionism; the Ministry of Labor (government); and employees.
In his speech, he raised the issues of representativeness, both at the union and business level, the Ministry of Labor’s failure, the outdated legislation, and more. To solve this situation, he considers it necessary to set a state policy, such as education and health, where the National Congress, the entrepreneur, the unions and the employees take action.
Prof. Bilbao Richter commented on his presentation, saying that “corruption is the root of the whole problem.” Nadia Machicado mentioned entrepreneurship as an opportunity for young people, and asked about the resources to face the aforementioned challenges. Dr. Reksas stated that, first, it is essential to “take politics and ideology” out of the discussion. To the second question, he suggested to “deepen education and culture.” He also mentioned the difficulties of entrepreneurs in Argentina due to high labor costs, as well as the loss of work culture and educational decline.
“The economy is a complex issue, since it depends on a people’s culture and education,” claimed Dr. Jorge Tuero, IAED-Argentina representative, who moderated the discussion, the objective of which is to put some light on the economic reality, avoiding mere theorization, and simplified by the premise: “Truth, Not Stories.”
In his closing comments, Miguel Werner, UPF-Argentina president, emphasized the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding among the above-mentioned areas in order to reach agreements and cooperation for change. He added that it is important to have a change in the leadership paradigm to reclaim “common good,” transcending mere individual or sectoral interests.
The International Association for Peace and Economic Development (IAED) is a UPF-International project, which seeks to contribute to peace in cooperation with other leadership areas and organizations. It was formally launched during the 2020 World Summit in Seoul (Korea) with the conviction that “We have the opportunity and responsibility to work in collaboration with other areas of society to make the world a better place, address the most important challenges, and promote long-term world peace, prosperity and a truly sustainable development” (3).
The IAED was launched in Argentina on October 26, 2021, with the theme: “Challenges for Peace and a Sustainable Economic Development” (4). This year, a series of discussions was proposed, in conjunction with UPF/YSP-Argentina, where experts talk about a specific topic and respond to questions from panelists and participants of UPF-Argentina’s YouTube channel (5).
Notes and links to recordings:
1) Dr. Roberto Reksas is a business consultant for HR and labor relations, President at Industrial Relations & Management Consultant S.A.; Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Tres de Febrero; and President of Rotary Club in Haedo.
2) Recording of the IAED/UPF/YSP Argentina 2022 Discussion Series 28-9-2022:
3) International Association for Peace and Economic Development (IAED):
https://www.upf.org/associations/iaed
4) IAED-Argentina presentation 26-10-2022: https://www.upf.org/363-language/9915-panel-de-empresarios-inaugura-iaed-upf-en-argentina
Recording: https://youtu.be/WhVa9_uWaKQ
5) First 2022 IAED/UPF/YSP-Argentina Discussion Series 29-8-2022:
“BSR: Social Observer?,” by Vicente Spagnulo, expert in social, business, community and social innovation projects
Discussion recording: https://youtu.be/vaiPg9PNRhk