Argentina's Milei faces unprecedented worker backlash as unions take to streets
Security forces battle to contain crowds in Buenos Aires, deploying water cannons and rubber bullets against protesters hurling petrol bombs, stones, and bottles.
Thousands of workers mobilised by powerful trade unions have converged outside Argentina's Congress, blocking traffic and clashing with police as senators debate a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s labour laws seen as central to President Javier Milei’s economic programme.
Security forces struggled to control crowds in a central square of downtown Buenos Aires, firing water cannons and rubber bullets at protesters who threw petrol bombs, stones and water bottles.
Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva said two people were arrested for attacking police officers.
The confrontation has highlighted the sensitivity of labour rights in a country shaped since the 1940s by Peronism, a populist movement that has long presented itself as a defender of workers.
Supporters of Milei's proposed reforms blame nearly two decades of stagnant private-sector job creation on high payroll taxes, a complex severance system and national wage agreements that limit company-level negotiations.
The bill under discussion would give businesses greater flexibility by curbing the right to strike, extending trial periods during which companies can dismiss new employees, reducing the power of national trade federations in collective bargaining and cutting severance payouts.
Business groups argue the changes would attract foreign investment and encourage formal hiring in a country where almost half of workers are employed off the books.
Trade unions and their political allies have strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it would dismantle protections against unfair dismissal and expose vulnerable workers to Argentina's recurring economic shocks.
"It's not modernisation, it’s austerity for the workers," said the General Confederation of Labour, the country’s largest trade-union grouping, which organised Wednesday's protest.
The Senate debate was expected to continue through the night.
If approved, the legislation will move to the lower house of Congress for debate next month.