Javier Milei launched his plan to "rebuild" Argentina on Dec. 21, when he formally announced that he would sign a Decree of Emergency Need (DNU) to deregulate the country's economy, which was classified as one of the most repressed in the world according to the Heritage Foundation. With the measures already underway, the president received a severe setback from local courts, which have blocked the labor reform.
The Labor Court decided Wednesday to grant the precautionary measure presented by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), a powerful local union, which had requested the suspension of the labor standards included in the aforementioned decree, which made the Argentine labor market more flexible.
"Republican forms are not mere rhetoric, but are the very essence of the system," Judges José Alejandro Sudera and Andrea García Vior wrote in the ruling.
🔴La justicia suspende la reforma laboral de Milei. Aceptaron la medida cautelar de la CGT. pic.twitter.com/NoTzBL0Zf8
— Martu Garbarz (@martinagarbarz) January 3, 2024
“It is a public and well-known fact that workers are a socially vulnerable sector and that rights of a food nature are at stake—per se or through its derivatives. I have no doubt that serious and objectively urgent circumstances exist that justify the issuance of a precautionary measure suspending the applicability of the provisions of Title IV WORK of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 70/23 until a final ruling is issued on the substantive issue raised in these proceedings (arg. art. 5th second paragraph of law 26854 ),” they added.
Among the measures that the court ruling repealed was a regulation of the right to strike for various activities that are considered essential services, which will be required to provide 75% of normal labor output, and others that are classified as “activities of transcendental importance,” which will be required to guarantee 50% of their services.
In this way, for the reform to come into force again, the court must approve, not the legislative or executive branch.
One by one, all the points of Javier Milei's deregulatory decree
- Repeal of the Rental Law: so that the real estate market returns to run smoothly and renting is not an odyssey.
- Repeal of the Supply Law so that the State never attacks again against the property rights of individuals.
- Repeal of the Gondolas Law so that the State stops getting involved in the decisions of Argentine merchants.
- Repeal of the National Purchase Law that only benefits certain power actors.
- Repeal of the Price Observatory of the Ministry of Economy to avoid persecution of companies.
- Repeal of the Industrial Promotion Law.
- Repeal of the Trade Promotion Law.
- Repeal of the regulations that prevent the privatization of public companies.
- Repeal of the State companies regime.
- Transformation of all State companies into public limited companies for subsequent privatization.
- Modernization of the labor regime to facilitate the job creation process for genuine employment.
- Reform of the Customs Code to facilitate international trade.
- Repeal of the Land Law to promote investments.
- Modification of the Fire Management Law.
- Repeal of the obligations that sugar mills have regarding sugar production.
- Liberation of the legal regime applicable to the wine sector.
- Repeal of the national mining trade system and the Information Mining Bank.
- Authorization for the transfer of the total or partial share package of Argentinian airlines.
- Implementation of the open skies policy.
- Modification of the Civil and Commercial Code to reinforce the principle of freedom contractual between the parties.
- Modification of the Civil and Commercial Code to guarantee that the obligations contracted in foreign currency must be paid in the agreed currency.
- Modification to the regulatory framework of prepaid medicine and social works.
- Elimination of price restrictions on the prepaid industry.
- Incorporation of prepaid medicine companies into the works regime social.
- Establishment of the electronic prescription to streamline the service and minimize costs.
- Modifications to the regime of pharmaceutical companies to promote competition and reduce costs.
- Modification of the Companies Law so that football clubs can become corporations if they so wish.
- Deregulation of satellite internet services.
- Deregulation of the tourism sector by eliminating the monopoly of travel agencies on tourism.
- Incorporation of digital tools for automotive registration procedures.
