BUENOS AIRES, June 27 (Reuters) - Argentine oilseed crushers workers union SOEA has kicked off a strike to protest a proposed labor reform awaiting a vote in the lower house of Congress, a union leader said on Thursday.

The proposals are part of a major package of reforms pushed by libertarian President Javier Milei.

"We started the strike, but this time we did it without issuing a statement," SOEA's union leader Daniel Succi told Reuters. The union canceled a prior strike earlier this month under pressure from the government.

The CIARA-CEC chamber of oilseed producers and grains exporters questioned the legality of what it called an "unplanned" strike.

The strike is "totally foreign to the industry and is politically motivated," the chamber said on social media network X.

The SOEA operates in the port towns north of Rosario, Argentina's main agricultural exports hub. The country is one of the largest international exporters of soybean oil and soybean flour.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/argentine-oilseed-workers-union-strikes-labor-reform-up-vote-2024-06-27/