On Friday, March 6, 2026, in Argentina, the labor reform came into force. One of the cornerstones of Milei’s administration is now law. The reform affects the relationship between workers and employers. Voted in the Senate on February 11 and in the Congreso Nacional on February 27, it left behind a wave of controversy, mobilization, and, above all, repression. Strongly criticized by the opposition, this reform changes the regulation of labor relations, favoring employers and drastically reducing the rights of employees. According to Deputy Myriam Bregman, the law was supported and backed only by “entrepreneurs and law firm lawyers”, maintaining a strongly anti-popular character. Composed of 25 chapters, it introduces radical changes on issues such as compensation, dismissals, vacations, and overtime. Crucial and dangerous is the freedom granted by the new rules to employers. These create a relationship between employer and employee that is extremely unbalanced in favor of the former. It is because of this imbalance that the reform has been defined as “slavish”. According to Bregman, “the only freedom Javier Milei defends is the freedom to enslave.”
The first major change concerns the length of the workday. The maximum limit of 8 hours per day is eliminated, introducing the possibility of working up to 12 hours a day, provided that 48 hours per week are not exceeded and 12 hours of rest are available between shifts. Another problematic point concerns the possibility for employers to pay wages with food, housing, or goods instead of money. Another ambiguity concerns the creation of a bank of hours. Under this mechanism, overtime may not be remunerated. The alternative to payment consists of compensation through additional days off. On paper, these options must result from an agreement between the two parties. In practice, the employer always holds the upper hand, especially considering the increasingly weak role of unions.
Also worrying is the attack on workers’ right to strike, particularly in sectors such as commerce, education, port services, and telecommunications. For these categories, it is mandatory to guarantee at least 75% of services during strike days.
The approval of the law has been, and continues to be, at the center of struggles by Argentine social movements. Strikes and demonstrations have highlighted the strong unpopularity of the reform. Bregman herself was present at the mass mobilization on February 11 that took to the streets of Buenos Aires and the country’s main cities. Her testimony is a crucial denunciation of the brutality used by the police to suppress the protest. “They approached (the police) to the sidewalk on motorcycles and started shooting from two or three meters away.” Saved only, according to her, by “the enormous solidarity of the people.” According to the deputy, the repression had the declared aim of concealing the massive rejection of the labor reform. The far-right responds once again to general discontent with its most representative weapon: repression, at any cost.
The struggle, however, does not stop. The main Argentine unions and opposition politicians have called for a large popular demonstration on March 24. Not a random date, since that day marks 50 years since the coup that led to the dictatorship of the military juntas initiated by Videla, lasting until 1983 and stained with crimes such as murders, repression, and forced disappearances. Beyond the demand for a trial and adequate punishment for the remaining unpunished perpetrators, the organizers call for the repeal of the labor reform itself.
The measure represents a huge blow to workers’ rights. The government continues with a hardline approach, saying that the situation in Argentina will improve. Improvements that come at a high cost for workers, stripped of their rights. The number of informal or precarious workers is extremely high. Reforms like this risk widening the gap between wages and the cost of living, effectively increasing this phenomenon. Once again, Milei’s ultraliberal policies end up favoring large companies and foreign investors, placed first, ahead of the needs of the people he had promised to uplift.
