Javier Milei vs. big labor.

Milei's swift action intended to transform Argentina's floundering economy provoked the country's biggest labor union to call tens of thousands to protest in Buenos Aires against his
libertarian agenda.
After enacting sweeping reforms in Argentina, President Javier Milei faced a major protest. Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets, hundreds of flights were grounded, and schools and businesses closed in protests to Milei's attempt to fix the troubled South American country.

Milei is the first self-described libertarian head of state in history. To avert economic disaster in a country facing huge deficits and a 160 percent inflation rate that has since spiked to over 211 percent, he told the country, things would likely get worse before they could get better.

In his inauguration address on December 10, Milei acknowledged the daunting challenges ahead. "No government has received a worse inheritance than the one we are receiving. We neither seek nor desire the difficult decisions that must be made in the coming weeks. But unfortunately, we have no choice," he explained.

Ten days into his term, Milei issued a "mega-decree" of more than 300 executive measures. He abolished national rent control, which had caused a 75 percent drop in available apartments in Buenos Aires between 2022 and 2023. He repealed price controls, slashed subsidies, and fired more than 5,000 government employees. He allowed direct competition with Argentina's government-owned airline, which he plans to privatize. And he defied the country's powerful labor unions.

Milei's transformative agenda has encountered resistance, notably from Argentina's largest labor union, the General Confederation of Labor, which represents about one out of every five Argentine workers. The union called for a nationwide strike on January 24, bringing portions of Buenos Aires to a standstill.

Their main reason for protesting? Milei had issued an order ending the automatic withholding of union dues, leaving workers free to opt out of union membership. He also banned government workers in sectors like health and education from striking. While his measures were temporarily suspended by a court ruling, unions are making a show of force so that Milei's agenda doesn't make it through Congress.

Despite the economic challenges and opposition, Milei remains resolute in his pursuit for a freer, less regulated, and less debt-ridden Argentina. Addressing world leaders at the World Economic Forum this January, he said that the Argentina of the future will be based on libertarian principles.