The union inside the site, section by section

Four sections that look nothing alike and together redraw the day-to-day of union representation at a workplace. The assembly (new s. 20 bis of Ley 23.551): it may be convened "provided this does not affect the normal course of the company's activities or cause harm to third parties", and inside or outside the workplace the employer's prior authorisation is required "as to both the time and the duration" — and of the place too, if held inside; the text closes with two short sentences: to exercise the power "it must be up to date in the payment of wages" and "the worker shall not accrue wages for its duration". The shop steward (s. 44(c)): a credit of up to ten (10) paid hours per month, unless the collective agreement grants more, and "the exercise of this right may not cause the interruption of activities in the work area". Protection of the representative (s. 52): it applies "only to lawfully elected union delegates or representatives holding full positions" and to up to two full congress delegates in large companies and one in SMEs; "alternates shall not be covered by the union protection provided in this law". And the employer may ask the court, within five days, to suspend the work as an interim measure where the person's continued presence "could pose a potential danger to the safety of persons or company property or to its normal operation". ⭐ And the one that opens a new door (s. 29): trade-union status may be granted to a company union where, for six continuous months, it has more dues-paying members in that company than the association with pre-existing status, "whatever the degree or the material, territorial and personal scope of the latter". ⭐ And what was missing from that section 52, which is what puts a number on getting it wrong. If the employer breaches the guarantee, the affected person may sue by summary procedure for reinstatement in their post, plus the wages lost during the court proceedings, or for the restoration of working conditions; and if the court orders reinstatement and the employer does not comply, it may impose the coercive penalties of section 804 of the Civil and Commercial Code for as long as the union protection lasts. Or the steward may leave and collect. The text gives them the option to "consider the employment relationship terminated by virtue of the employer's decision, placing themselves in a position of constructive dismissal", in which case they receive, in addition to dismissal compensation, "a sum equivalent to the pay that would have corresponded to them for the remainder of the term and the year of post-term stability". For a candidate who was not elected the calculation differs: compensation, plus the pay for the protection period not yet run, plus one further year of pay, and those sums are not cumulative with those of section 245 bis of the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo. Two limitation rules: filing for reinstatement interrupts the limitation period for the claim for compensation and lost wages, and time only starts running once there is a final ruling. ⭐ And the way out the employer has without asking permission: it may release the protected representative from working, notifying the Ministry of Human Capital within 48 working hours and keeping up every payment and duty on its side; but it then has ten days, on pain of forfeiture, to go to court for a finding that the substantiated grounds of section 78 of the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo exist, or directly to seek exclusion from the guarantee. verif · Mar 6, 2026 ↗

In force with the law, from 6 March 2026. All four sections are self-executing: they delegate no regulation and set no adaptation deadlines. ⏰ The only one that starts a clock of its own is the company union: trade-union status requires six continuous months of a majority of dues-paying members before the filing, so the earliest possible application runs from when that membership starts counting, not from the law. verif · Mar 6, 2026 ↗

To whoever runs a site office or a plant, which is where these four rules either apply or do not. Three of them are about making the working day predictable: an assembly can no longer land on a shift unannounced, the steward's hours have a number and cannot stop the area, and the list of people with reinforced protection becomes closed and countable — elected full representatives, plus two or one congress delegate depending on size — instead of open-ended. ⚠️ The fourth is of a different nature and should not be lumped in with them: a company union taking over trade-union status simplifies nobody's day, it changes the counterpart. It mainly reaches large projects with a stable in-house workforce, the only ones where a company-wide membership majority is attainable. It also reaches, on the other side, the alternate representative who until now believed themselves protected and no longer is, and anyone attending an assembly: those hours are not paid. ⭐ And what to have at hand before deciding: what getting it wrong costs. Dismissing or suspending a protected representative without the prior court ruling does not end in a fine: it ends in reinstatement with the wages for the whole case, or — if the steward chooses to leave — in dismissal compensation plus the pay for the term they had left plus a full year of post-term stability. That is why the closed list of who is protected matters so much: knowing exactly who is covered is what separates an ordinary termination from a bill that can run to several years of salary. And there is a middle route worth knowing: the person can be released from working with every payment maintained, on notice to the Ministry of Human Capital within 48 working hours — but that starts a ten-day clock to go to court. verif · Mar 6, 2026 ↗