Buenos Aires

Traveler  Has the temperature dropped or is it still unbearably hot?

Traveler  I did some googling and discovered that Nearly 200 phantom workers at Argentina's parliament have been caught in a crackdown on employees who only show up sporadically for their jobs, it has been reported. According to La Nación newspaper, the Argentine Congress implemented a new attendance control system for employees two months ago, and it has already caught 190 who had not shown up for long periods without a good explanation. Authorities have begun proceedings to remove 160 of them from their positions, while 30 others decided to resign when confronted with evidence of their absenteeism, La Nación said. Known as "gnocchi" or "noqui" in Argentina - after the popular dumpling dish that is traditionally served on the 29th of each month - it is a nickname given to state employees who do not perform real work, and only go to their official workplace once a month to claim their salary cheque. With the new system in place, La Nación notes that "the corridors of the legislature are flooded with employees, the nearby cafes are crowded and old faces that were not seen in the area for a long time can be seen". The new biometric system requires employees to sign in with their fingerprint every day if they want to draw a salary, La Noticia1 reports. Of the 160 staff under investigation from the payroll of 16,500 persons, 83 had missed at least 10 days in a row at work without being able to justify themselves.

Traveler  Sorry, I wanted to edit the above but my fingers slipped... I also discovered that the government are reorganising the country's pension system and that also is causing protests... so between the crackdown on phantom workers and restricting entitlements to pensions, it seems the Argentinians have lots to protest about.