Argentine workers marked May Day with protests in Buenos Aires on Thursday, directing their anger at President Javier Milei’s labor-law overhaul as the country’s annual demonstrations coincided with simmering concerns over job security and wages. The protests unfolded as unions staged a new public push against changes that had previously been a source of conflict in Milei’s drive to reshape Argentina’s economy.
The largest union group, the General Confederation of Labor, or CGT, said it was marching to defend what it described as decent employment, taking its case directly to government offices in the downtown area. CGT leader Octavio Argüello told the crowd beating drums, waving banners and chanting against Milei that, “We want to say to this government, enough is enough,” and that “Our patience has run out, Mr. President.”
The labor-law package that unions are opposing was pushed through in February, after weeks of protests and a nationwide strike against the proposal, according to the Associated Press. The changes build on a labor code that, the AP reported, had long guaranteed protections and rights for workers but that critics say also raised business costs and discouraged foreign investment.
Union leaders said they are continuing to challenge the law through the courts, including an appeal process that they say contests the law’s constitutionality. They also said they planned to file a further petition after a court last week overturned an injunction that had suspended implementation at their request, with the case expected to go to Argentina’s Supreme Court.
Protest organizers framed the new labor code as politically sensitive in a country where unions helped found the left-leaning Peronist movement that dominated politics since the 1940s. The issue has become especially charged as Milei’s flagship campaign to eliminate inflation has stalled, the AP said, with wages lagging behind prices and unemployment trending upward.
Critics of the overhaul argue that workers are not seeing benefits from Milei’s economic program as the broader economy has shown signs of recession in some sectors. Marcelo J. García, Americas director for the geopolitical risk consultancy Horizon Engage, said the economy is not growing as strongly as the government thought it would and that “The majority of Argentines may feel that they’re not seeing the benefits of (Milei’s) economic program. And that’s Milei’s biggest political risk at the moment.”
The overhaul is aimed at making it easier for businesses to hire and fire new workers, the AP reported. The law allows companies to increase workdays to 12 hours from eight, extend probation periods during which employees can be dismissed without benefits, and replace overtime payments with time off, while the legislation also curtails workers’ right to strike, reduces the power of national unions to set industrywide salary levels, and limits courts’ discretion on severance payouts, critics say.
At the protest, Sergio Aguirre, 51, a bus driver, said the costs are rising while salaries remain the same, adding that “We survive on overtime pay. Now they want to take that away with the rest of our benefits.” The AP reported that nearly half of Argentines work off the books, a condition that can affect how labor law changes translate into everyday job security.
As the law faces legal scrutiny, Milei has dismissed reports of economic challenges as “absurdities spread by the media.” In comments to an economic conference late Wednesday, he said, “We receive international recognition for our achievements,” and also drew on the saying, “No one is a prophet in his own land.”
Thursday’s march, protesters said, signaled what could come next as promises of radical change collide with economic hardship. Manuel Correa, 47, said he would stay in the street “until the government changes or backtracks,” adding that he has “We don’t have an alternative,” after his textile factory on the outskirts of Buenos Aires slashed its workforce in the last two years by 58%, or 350 employees.