Labor market reforms suspended
Court stops Milei in Argentina
January 4, 2024, 12:11 a.m
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Argentina’s new president has suffered a setback in his radical restructuring program. An appeals court is temporarily stopping its plans to restrict workers’ rights. The country’s largest union sued.
An Argentine court has suspended a reform of labor law by new President Javier Milei. The judges froze labor regulations in a Milei decree that, among other things, extended the probationary period, reduced certain compensation and cut maternity leave. The court found that the measures were so numerous and serious that they could not be passed by Congress. It is a first setback for the libertarian right-wing populist.
Judge Alejandro Sudera questioned the “necessity” and “urgency” of the decree and suspended the measures pending a review by Parliament, according to the ruling carried by Telam news agency. Some of the measures appeared to have a “repressive or punitive character.”
According to the attorney general, the government plans to appeal. The country’s main trade union federation had challenged the measures, which came into force on Friday last week. He justified this by saying that basic employee protection rights such as the right to strike and parental leave were being undermined.
When he took office on December 10th, Milei, who was elected in November, promised the heavily indebted country a “shock therapy” and a few days later a decree that would change or abolish more than 300 existing laws. Thousands of people took to the streets last week to protest against the reforms. Latin America’s third largest economy is experiencing a severe economic crisis. Inflation has risen to more than 160 percent and more than 40 percent of the population lives in poverty.