MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Milei's chainsaw policies underway after Lower House's nod

Milei thanked all the legislators who supported “our project”

The shaping up of Argentine President Javier Milei's “chainsaw” economic politics kicked off this week with the broad approval by Congress' Lower House of the so-called “Omnibus Law” bill, also known for its formal name as the Bases Law: “It is a fundamental step to get Argentina out of the swamp,” Milei stressed on social media. The Basic Law bill has ten titles totaling 25 chapters.

Milei insisted that, under the new conditions, Argentina was “getting closer” to signing the May Pact with the provinces in Córdoba on May 25. The House was reviewing each particular chapter of the bill during Tuesday's session, so far with positive outcomes in each case for the Libertarian administration. “I want to thank the enormous task of all the deputies who, understanding the historical moment, decided to support our project,” the President posted.

After a failed attempt earlier this year, the second version of the bill was approved around 9 am Tuesday with 142 affirmative votes and 106 against in what was regarded as the first Parliamentarian victory for Milei's government.

“The Argentine people require representatives willing to put an end to the privileges of the caste and the corporate republic, in pursuit of the future and the development of the Homeland. The regency of the protectors of the status quo ended on December 10. It is time for those willing to put their bodies to reinsert us in the path of greatness that one day led us to be a prosperous country,” the President's Office said in a statement.

“Argentines who live from their work, those who dedicate their efforts to study and progress, those who long for a promising future for their descendants and the generations to come, expect that the greatness seen today in the House of Deputies will soon be reproduced in the Senate of the Nation. The representatives of the provinces now have the historic responsibility of establishing a true federal regime that will restore dignity and freedom to their peoples, guiding the country once again towards the path of prosperity that will lead to the resurgence of the Argentine Republic as a world power,” the document went on.

By 134 votes to 117 and one abstention La Libertad Avanza (LLA) got a declaration of ”public emergency in administrative, economic, financial and energy matters for a term of one (1) year.“

A fiscal package was also approved, which includes modifications to current legislation applicable to matters such as income tax, personal property, and the mono-tax regime. A new money laundering law was also passed along with Milei's labor reform which includes an employment agency run by the unions under the title of ”labor modernization.“

The measure was initially included in Milei's most encompassing Emergency Decree 70/2023 from last year. It also provides for the extension of trial periods from three to six months and allows collective bargaining agreements to extend it up to eight months and up to one year, depending on the size of the company, in a move to avoid severance pays that usually deters employers from hiring additional workers.

The rule also creates a ”severance fund“ to cover job termination expenses when employers lay off anyone without a cause and allow self-employed entrepreneurs to retain the services of other ”independent workers“ for productive tasks without such a move generating a full employment condition that would entitle workers to severance money.

The bill allows rescheduling pregnancy leaves to start 10 days prior to childbirth so that the remaining 80 days can be enjoyed after the delivery and raises severance payments to layoffs stemming from discriminatory decisions.

Those opposing the measure argued that the reform was a ”removal of rights“ from workers that would entail a ”labor precariousness” and in no way suppress legal actions against employers.

The chapter regarding the reform of the State was approved with 135 affirmative votes, 112 negative votes, and 2 abstentions. It provides for the privatization of Nucleoeléctrica Argentina Sociedad Anónima, Yacimientos Carboníferos Río Turbio, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Energía Argentina, Radio y Televisión Argentina and Intercargo S.A.U., AySA, the Official Post Office, Belgrano Cargas, Sociedad Operadora Ferroviaria and Corredores Viales.