The Argentine justice system has declared the “constitutional invalidity” of the labor reform that the president, Javier Milei, imposed through a megadecree. A court with federal jurisdiction specialized in labor matters, the Chamber of Labor, annulled earlier this month a part of the decree of necessity and urgency (DNU) that the president signed in December. The Government appealed that decision and this Tuesday the court's final ruling was announced, which the Executive may appeal again to the Supreme Court: the chamber annulled all the articles of the labor chapter of the reform “for being contrary to article 99 of the National Constitution”, which defines the powers of the president. Although it is a strong blow to the measure, most of the hundreds of changes and derogations that the Government imposed by decree remain in force.
The protection endorsed this Tuesday by the Chamber of Labor was presented at the end of December by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT). In their writing, the unions questioned chapter four of the DNU, which deregulates the labor market without parliamentary discussion. Among other measures, it limits the right to strike, eliminates sanctions for irregular contracts, authorizes work days of up to 12 hours a day and enables changes in compensation. On January 3, a first instance ruling suspended six of the chapter's articles, but left the rest in force.
That first instance judicial brief presented as a central argument for suspending a part of the megadecree that neither the need nor the urgency for the Executive to bypass Parliament is proven. Decrees of necessity and urgency are an exceptional constitutional mechanism that, in a scenario of natural or social catastrophe, allows the Government to dictate or modify laws to address an urgent matter that cannot wait for debate in Congress. But among constitutional lawyers there is a consensus that this is not the case with the decree signed by Milei and that was the majority opinion expressed in the first instance judicial document.
The ruling issued this Tuesday resolves to “modify the appealed sentence” and include the entire chapter. The judges have once again highlighted that “the admission of the exercise of legislative powers by the Executive Branch is made under conditions of rigorous exceptionalism.” The court has considered that, when Milei imposed hundreds of measures by decree to reform the Argentine State, “there was no impediment to the meeting of the chambers of Congress.” “Prior to the date of entry into force of DNU 70/2023, the legislative body was convened, in office, and with powers to examine the content of the reforms promoted in said DNU,” says the document, which has had access EL PAÍS.
“Justice ruled us right. The labor chamber declared the entire chapter 4 of the DNU unconstitutional,” unionist Héctor Daer celebrated on the social network X. The unions promoted the protection at the end of December. That day, they made a first demonstration of force in the streets to reject the megadecree in a rally in front of the court headquarters in Buenos Aires. While this was happening, the Government announced the sending to Congress of a law with more than 600 articles that fundamentally change a good part of the political, social and economic structure of Argentina. The omnibus lawnamed for its length and variety of topics, was considered by the union leadership “exponentially worse” than the megadecree and forced the CGT to announce a general strike, which was carried out last Wednesday.
The mobilizations against the DNU had begun spontaneously. Many Argentines took to their balconies to make their rejection heard after Milei announced her decision in December on national television. In the courts, in addition, protections began to accumulate to stop the reforms. Among the more than 300 points that the DNU imposes without discussion, laws are modified or repealed that forced companies to guarantee the internal supply of food, that favored industrial promotion in disadvantaged areas, that regulated increases for tenants, prevented privatization of public companies or placed obstacles on imports and exports. The package also modifies the health system so that private insurance companies freely set prices or establishes that foreigners will have no limits on purchasing land.
Subscribe here to newsletter from EL PAÍS América and receive all the key information on current events in the region.
#Argentine #justice #system #declares #invalid #labor #reform #Milei #imposed #megadecree