Argentine public universities did not re-open for the second semester of 2024 on Monday after staff launched a three-day strike over pay. Academic and administrative staff are demanding pay rises at a time when sky-high inflation has caused what they say is the greatest loss of purchasing power in decades.

“Never in the 40 years of democracy have conditions been so unfavorable,” the National Inter-University Council said. The strike began on Monday and is due to end on Wednesday. 

On April 23, workers and students all over the country marched against government cuts to public universities.

The Human Capital Ministry said that under the previous government, academic salaries were “far from what was right” and “sustained by monetary emission.” Academic and administrative staff received a 71% pay rise between December and July, it added. However, inflation over the same period has been nearly double that figure.

A public university associate professor with ten years of experience currently earns AR$314,664 (US$320 at the official rate, US$247 at the MEP rate) a month for ten hours of work a week, according to the National Federation of University Professors. 

The Inter-University Council said the Human Capital Ministry aims to “confuse Argentine society by relativizing the seriousness of the problem” and urged the government to “guarantee the working conditions in accordance with the mission that public universities have.”

According to the National Federation of University Professors, the government offered staff a 3% rise for August and a 2% increase for September. 

“[That would] deepen the salary crisis, which keeps all entry-level positions below the destitution line and more than 60% of university positions below the poverty line,” the Inter-University Council said in a release.

The Human Capital Ministry said that “the message from the ballot boxes” was that the government cannot “spend more than it brings in.” 

“That is why, more than strikes and protests, we are confident that we will be able to hold dialogue,” the ministry’s communiqué concluded.