Can Argentina鈥檚 social solidarity endure despite historic labor law overhaul?
| Buenos Aires
Argentina is overhauling workers鈥� rights with landmark legislation that is in line with President Javier Milei鈥檚 economic 鈥渟hock therapy鈥� but runs counter to decades of emphasizing workers鈥� benefits here.
鈥淗ISTORIC. We have labor modernization,鈥� the tousle-haired libertarian celebrated on social media after the labor law was passed in February. The new legislation is now fully in force, after a judge鈥檚 partial suspension was overturned on procedural grounds late last month.
The reform aims to encourage productivity by simplifying labor relations and ending a culture of work-related litigation. It weakens the country鈥檚 powerful unions and makes it easier for employers to hire and fire people.
Why We Wrote This
Argentina鈥檚 overhauled labor law is meant to modernize the workforce and loosen the grip of historically powerful unions. But in an administration focused on cost-cutting, some workers find the legislation one shock too many.
From the moment Mr. Milei took office in December 2023, his brash style and cost-cutting agenda marked a sharp departure from Argentina鈥檚 tradition of social solidarity and state-provided protections. The revised labor law goes a step further, eroding historically held rights at a time of growing hardship for the middle class, as well as a dwindling patience with the high social cost of the president鈥檚 austerity measures.
鈥淭he government maintains that the labor market has changed ... and that we have labor laws that protect fewer and fewer people. And it has a point,鈥� says Lucila D鈥橴rso, a professor at the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento in Buenos Aires. But, she adds, the new legislation 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 seek to protect those who are currently unprotected in the labor market; instead, it takes rights away from those who already have them.鈥�
鈥淎rgentine identity鈥�
Mr. Milei has succeeded in reducing inflation, getting it down, from over 211% when he took office, and brought some order to the country鈥檚 public finances. But with unemployment a record informally employed, real wages falling, and monthly inflation edging up again, most Argentines aren鈥檛 feeling better off.
鈥淔ormal workers like me live under the poverty line,鈥� says Natalia Fern谩ndez, a state health administrator from Rosario, who joined a recent march in the capital. It was organized by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) on the eve of Labor Day, May 1.
鈥淪ometimes, we come to celebrate. ... This year, we鈥檙e protesting,鈥� she says, the air around her thick with smoke from barbecued sausages and firecrackers.
The revised labor law raises the maximum legal workday to 12 hours, reduces severance pay, and restricts the right to strike and hold assemblies.
Much of the business sector supports the overhaul, with organizations such the National Union of Entrepreneurs, Small and Medium Enterprises and Producers defending deeper change. The organization was founded in 2023 to back Mr. Milei鈥檚 labor agenda. The old legislation condemned small and medium enterprises 鈥渢o operate under rules from 40, 50 years ago 鈥� that are impossible to apply in the digital, modern economy of 2026,鈥� Exequiel Chapur, a leading member of the organization and a supermarket owner in the city of C贸rdoba, told
Yet Ms. Fern谩ndez argues the legislation attacks the core of Argentine identity. 鈥淭he workforce is the backbone of our community,鈥� she says. 鈥淔or Argentina, work is truly an important social structure, and one that is being dismantled.鈥�
A nearby banner bears the face of Pope Francis, the late Argentine pontiff, who believed labor unions gave voice to the voiceless.
Not everyone shares Ms. Fern谩ndez鈥檚 unwavering support for unions, which initially gained social and political power almost a century ago in the populist government of Juan Domingo Per贸n. Many Argentines today dismiss unions as corrupt 鈥� echoing Mr. Milei, who lumps union leaders with the 鈥渃aste鈥� he abhors. And even some unionized workers are disillusioned with the leadership of traditional organizations like the CGT, considered out-of-touch with their base, says Dr. D鈥橴rso.
Other forms of organizing, in workplace groups that are separate from traditional unions, are emerging, she says. Take Sebasti谩n Tesoro, a unionized factory worker. He accuses the CGT of being complacent in its response to the labor reform.
鈥淭here is a lot of anger toward union leaders,鈥� he says, adding that workers like him continue to fight for their rights without the CGT鈥檚 organizing.
Mr. Tesoro is one of more than 900 people who lost their jobs at the Fate tire factory this year. The sprawling complex in San Fernando, in Buenos Aires鈥� northern suburbs, closed its doors in February, in part because it was unable to keep up with competition from China after Mr. Milei lifted restrictions on imports.
A handful of workers from the SUTNA tire workers鈥� union, to which Mr. Tesoro belongs, have occupied the plant since, demanding its reopening.
Fate was once an icon of national industry. Its closure reflects a wider crisis in the manufacturing sector that, along with struggles in other key areas such as construction and retail, is hitting the urban middle classes the hardest.
Looking out for each other
Even among people who voted for Mr. Milei鈥檚 free-market, small-state program, there is growing fatigue with the pace of economic recovery. The Milei government鈥檚 approval rating in April hit its lowest point so far, at 35%, according to an . Unemployment, inflation, and the economy are top voter concerns, after corruption.
Real estate broker Eduardo Prassolo voted for Mr. Milei, but worries about the impact the president鈥檚 policies are having on Argentina鈥檚 social fabric. 鈥淗e said he would adopt harsh austerity measures, and he has. But it鈥檚 not benefiting the people who need it the most,鈥� he says, walking his dog in a leafy square in Buenos Aires鈥� swanky Palermo Chico neighborhood.
鈥淚 have the impression that this wave [of support for liberal and libertarian policies] is dissipating, and that labor rights, social protections, and public services are regaining historical support,鈥� says Julia Soul, a social anthropologist and researcher at Argentina鈥檚 National Scientific and Technical Research Council.
Solidarity was on display back at the Fate tire plant, where laid-off workers organized a May Day gathering with food and music outside the shuttered gates.
鈥淲e came to support the workers. It鈥檚 not right that they鈥檝e been left without a job,鈥� says Paula Fern谩ndez, a local who stopped by with her husband, Eduardo Patroni. They say they consider all politicians corrupt, and don鈥檛 vote.
The couple work in private healthcare, and even with a salary four times that of a factory worker, they are struggling to make it through each month, they say. But they will buy empanadas to chip in for the workers, says Mr. Patroni, holding a plastic container of locro, a traditional stew the former Fate employees were dishing out. 鈥淧eople here are decent, they look out for each other.鈥�
