The Argentine Congress on Friday adopted Argentine President Javier Milei’s flagship labor reform, handing victory to the libertarian leader in his push to boost hiring by loosening rules on working hours, dismissals and overtime.
The so-called “labor modernization law” allows working days of up to 12 hours, reduces severance pay, limits the right to strike and lowers employer taxes, among other provisions.
Milei hailed the passing of the law, which is the centerpiece of his radical free-market agenda.
Photo: AP
“HISTORIC. We have labor modernization,” he wrote on X.
The law brought thousands of people onto the streets in the past two weeks in protest over what they see as a rollback in workers’ rights.
Two protests outside parliament ended in clashes between the police and protesters, but a third demonstration on Friday saw only minor disturbances.
Polls showed Argentines divided on the reform, with 48.6 percent in favor and 45.2 percent against in a recent survey.
Milei said Argentina’s labor laws are outdated, too restrictive and discourage formal hiring. More than 43 percent of Argentine workers lack formal employment contracts.
Sergio Emiliozzi, a 60-year-old teacher, said that while the law was being promoted as a job creation tool, “it’s quite the opposite.”
“What this allows is for me to be easily fired,” he said.
Opposition parties and unions have scorned Milei’s claim that the reform would spur a hiring bonanza.
They point to the closure of about 21,000 companies and loss of 300,000 jobs since he took office as proof that his budget-slashing, deregulatory agenda, while praised for driving down inflation, is hurting the economy.
For Latin American Association of Labor Lawyers president Matias Cremonte, the reform is “regressive” and “based on a false premise.”
“Studies have shown that in no country in the world has labor legislation been decisive in creating or destroying jobs. That depends on economic policy,” he said.
A report by national statistics institute Indec on business sentiment showed that 80 percent of companies have no hiring plans for the next three months and 15 percent plan to lay off staff.
Argentine Industrial Union president Martin Rappallini welcomed the law’s aim to reduce the number of workplace lawsuits, but cautioned that unemployment “cannot be solved with a single law.”
Young Chinese, many who fear age discrimination in their workplace after turning 35, are increasingly starting “one-person companies” that have artificial intelligence (AI) do most of the work. Smaller start-ups are already in vogue in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, with rapidly advancing AI tools seen as a welcome teammate even as they threaten layoffs at existing firms. More young people in China are subscribing to the model, as cities pledge millions of dollars in funding and rent subsidies for such ventures, in alignment with Beijing’s political goal of “technological self-reliance.” “The one-person company is a product of the AI era,” said Karen Dai
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS