This technology conceivably could be covered by existing legislation on patents or copyrights, but this has not been verified in practice. Nevertheless, Argentina has signed the WIPO Treaty on Integrated Circuits. Worker Rights a. Union membership is estimated at 30-40 percent of the workforce. Unions are independent of the government and political parties, although most union leaders are affiliated with President Menem's Justicialist Party.
Unions have the right to strike and strikers are protected by law.
Argentine unions are members of international labor associations and secretariats and participate actively in their programs. The trend continued towards bargaining on a company level, in contrast to negotiating at the national level on a sectoral basis, but the adjustment has not been easy for either management or labor. Both the federal government and a few highly industrialized provinces are working to create mediation services to promote more effective collective bargaining and dispute resolution. The law is effectively enforced except in some isolated rural areas where government monitoring capabilities are thin. Federal labor law mandates acceptable working conditions in the areas of health, safety and hours.