A federal court postponed the closure of the National Highway Administration (in Spanish, Vialidad) for six-months after President Javier Milei issued a decree closing the state organisation on July 7. The ruling was in response to a presentation made by the union representing national-level Vialidad workers.

The decision to end the state office was part of a flurry of presidential decrees issued last week. This was before Milei’s one-year period with the delegated legislative powers that was granted to him in 2024 expired on July 9. The decree also announced the end of the Road Safety Agency, and the National Transit and Road Safety Commission, as well as the concession of 9,120 kilometers of roads.

In the nine-page ruling the Herald has seen, Federal Judge Martina Isabel Forns agreed with the argument made by the union that the delegated legislative powers Milei enjoyed did not grant him permission to close self-governed state institutions like Vialidad. 

Furthermore, she added that article 32 of the presidential decree, which puts a deadline on the status of Vialidad personnel by saying that they will maintain their position until a new organizational structure is in place, is a violation of existing laws guaranteeing workers’ rights. 

Specifically, the judge cited the Vialidad workers collective bargaining agreement, which grants “full stability and non-transferability for permanent state workers.” Judge Forns also stated that the Constitution and International Labor Organization agreements “forbid the state, in its dual role of employer and regulator, to unilaterally change working conditions that have been established by collective norms fully in place.”

The closing of Vialidad

On July 7, Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said that the government had decided to eliminate Vialidad because of “corruption in public works,” naming former president Cristina Kirchner’s conviction in a case over road works corruption as an example. 

Vialidad is the government entity responsible for managing and building road construction throughout the country. According to Minister Sturzenegger, its duties would be transferred to economy ministry offices. 

Following the publication of the decree, the structure of the National Commission for Transport Regulation (CNRT) was set to be modified and renamed as the Agency for the Control of Public Transport Concessions and Services.