Bill of Rights of the Workers of Argentina

Proclaimed by His Excellency the President of the Argentine Republic, General Juan Perón, at Buenos Aires, on February 24 th., 1947

The President of the Argentine Republic, true interpreter of the aspiration for social justice cherished by the peoples, and bearing in mind that the rights deriving from work, as also the individual liberties, constitute the natural, inalienable and imprescriptable attributes of human beings, and that if these rights are ignored or injured they result in social antagonisms, struggles and unrest, considers it necessary and advisable to state them in an express declaration, so that, in the present and in the future, this declaration may serve as a rule to guide the action of individuals and public powers tending to raise the standard of social culture, to dignify labor and to humanize capital as the best means of establishing a balance among the concurrent forces of economy and to strengthen, in a new juridical organization, the principles which inspire social legislation.

For all these reasons, and in accordance with the preceding aims and purposes, he solemnly sets forth the following. 

-I-
THE RIGHT TO WORK
Work is the indispensable means to satisfy the spiritual and material needs of the individual and their community, the cause of all the conquests of civilization and the foundation of general prosperity; therefore, the right of work must be protected by society, which must consider it with the dignity it deserves and must provide employment to all those in need of it. 

-II-
THE RIGHT TO A FAIR REMUNERATION
Wealth, income and interest of capital being the exclusive outcome of human labor, the community must organize and reactivate the sources of production in such a manner as to make possible and ensure for the worker a moral and material remuneration which not only satisfies his vital needs but also compensates for the results obtained and the efforts carried out.

-III-
THE RIGHT TO CAPACITATION
The improvement of human condition and the preeminence of spiritual values impose the necessity of promoting the raising of the standard of culture and professional capability, endeavoring that all minds must be guided towards every field of knowledge; society must stimulate the individual effort providing the means by which, afforded the same opportunities, any individual may exercise his right to learn and perfect himself.

-IV-
THE RIGHT TO APPROPIATE WORKING CONDITIONS
From the considerations due to the human being, the importance of work as a social function, and the mutual respect among the concurrent factors of production, arises the rights of individuals to demand fair and appropriate conditions for the development of their activities and the obligation of society to watch over the strict observance of the precepts under which these conditions have been established and regulated. 

-V-
THE RIGHT TO THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH
The care of the physical and moral health of individuals must be one of society's principal and constant concerns. Society must see to it that the working regimes meet the necessary requirements of safety and hygiene, that they do not exceed the normal possibilities of human effort, and that they afford due periods for rest for recovery.

-VI-
THE RIGHT TO WELFARE
The right of workers to welfare, which may be summed up in the possibilities to obtain adequate dwelling, clothing and food, and to satisfy their own needs and those of their families without undue distress, so that they may work with pleasure, rest without worry, and enjoy in moderation spiritual and material expansions, imposes the social obligation of raising the standard of living and of work by means of the direct and indirect resources allowed by economic development.

-VII-
THE RIGHT TO SOCIAL SECURITY
The right of individuals to protection in cases of decrease, discontinuance or loss of their working capacity, imposes upon society the obligation of taking into its charge, unilaterally, the corresponding measures of compensation or of promoting systems of obligatory mutual aid, destined, both of them, to cover or to supplement the insufficiencies or inabilities proper to certain periods of life or those resulting from misfortunes arising from eventual risks.

-VIII-
THE RIGHT TO THE PROTECTION OF HIS FAMILY
The protection of the family is born from a natural feeling of the individual, since the family is the source of his highest sentiments of affection, and any effort tending to ensure its welfare must be encouraged and stimulated by the community as the most favorable means of achieving the improvement of mankind and the consolidation of the spiritual and moral principles which are the very essence of social relationship.

-IX-
THE RIGHT TO BETTER ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Productive capacity and man's ambition to surpass himself find a natural incentive in the possibility of improving economic conditions, hence, society must support and encourage any individual initiative tending to achieve this aim, and stimulate the formation and utilization of capitals insofar as they constitute active elements of production and contribute to general prosperity.

-X-
THE RIGHT TO THE DEFENCE OF PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS
The right to unionize freely and to participate in other lawful activities devoted to the defense of professional interests constitute essential rights of the workers which society must respect, ensuring their free exercise and repressing any action which might impair or prevent it.