Argentina court rules Milei’s labour reform unconstitutional

An Argentine court ruled that the labour reform President Javier Milei tried to implement through decree is unconstitutional, the latest blow to his plans to overhaul the nation’s economy.

The ruling was posted on the court’s website on Tuesday.

The court had already suspended the labour reform Milei announced on January 3, following an appeal from the powerful labour union CGT. Union leaders held a nationwide strike against Milei’s reforms last Wednesday.

The government could have proposed the reform via Congress, as opposed to trying to implement it through an urgent executive order, the judges wrote in the ruling. 

Milei’s only recourse now is to appeal to the supreme court or push the reform through Congress. Argentina’s lower house Chamber of Deputies will hold a session to debate Milei’s so-called omnibus bill Wednesday.

Milei’s labour measures centred around simplifying employers severance pay obligations and “trial periods” before a company must hire a worker to a full-time contract, among other reforms. Argentina has higher labour costs relative to worker productivity.