Strike over labour reforms brings Argentina’s capital to a near-standstill

The Chamber of Deputies is weighing a labour bill that would increase work hours, cut severance pay and ease firings.

A strike has ground much of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires to a halt, as businesses close and demonstrators take to the streets to protest against President Javier Milei’s proposed labour reforms.

Thursday’s 24-hour general strike was the fourth of Milei’s term as president, though smaller strikes have also been a regular occurrence since he took office in 2023.

As a result of the protest, subways were shuttered in Buenos Aires. Fewer bus lines were running. And Aerolineas Argentinas, the state airline, anticipated cancelling 255 flights, at a loss of $300m. Even banks and schools were closed in solidarity with the strike.

One of Argentina’s largest unions, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), called on citizens to show their opposition to the labour reform “in the streets, in Congress, in the courts and in every workplace”.

“If they attack workers’ rights, they attack national industry and the future of the country,” the union wrote in a social media post. “Rights are not negotiable.”